High-pressure cells for in situ multi-anvil experiments

Abstract

A new series of high-pressure cells for in situ multi-anvil experiments is described. The cells are based on the conventional COMPRES cells, but modifications are made to improve the passage of X-rays. The modifications include cutting slits in parts of the assemblies that have very high X-ray absorption, such as lanthanum chromite and rhenium, the use of low-Z thermal insulation, such as forsterite, in place of zirconia, and the partial replacement of zirconia by MgO equatorial windows combined with a mullite octahedron. Details of the designs, thermal characterizations, and examples of the application of these cells are described.

Keywords:

• Multi-anvil
• In situ diffraction
• High-pressure techniques

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by COMPRES, the Consortium for Materials Property Research in Earth Sciences under NSF cooperative agreement EAR 01-35554. Portions of this work were performed at GeoSoilEnviroCARS (Sector 13), Advanced Photon Source (APS), and Argonne National Laboratory. GeoSoilEnviroCARS is supported by the National Science Foundation, Earth Sciences (EAR-0217473), Department of Energy—Geosciences (DE-FG02-94ER14466), and the state of Illinois. Use of the APS was supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract no. W-31-109-ENG-38.