A high P–T cell assembly for neutron diffraction up to 10GPa and 1500 K

We present the design of a cell assembly for neutron diffraction experiments capable of performing simultaneous high-pressure (P) and high-temperature (T) conditions up to 10GPa and 1500 K. The high P-T cell assembly, designed for a Paris-Edinburgh (PE) toroidal anvil press, consists of a ceramic gasket, a cylinder/disk furnace, a confining ring, two thermocouples, and platinum wires which serve as electrodes for ohmic heating of the sample. The properties of mechanical strength, yield strength for plastic deformation, thermal/electric insulation, and neutron transparency of the gasket materials are the keys to the success of the cell assembly. The high P-T neutron diffraction experiments conducted at the HIPD beam-line at LANSCE using this cell assembly have produced high quality data and with stable, uniform temperature and sustained hydrostatic pressure.