A large volume pressure cell for high temperatures

Studies of matter under very high pressure at synchrotron radiation sources are mostly done using pressure cells with single-crystal diamond anvils. In some cases the available volume (≤ 10−3mm3)in such cells causes problems especially at high temperature and for crystal synthesis. To ensure sufficient homogeneity of pressure and temperature, the use of cells with large sample volumes (≥ 1 mm3) is necessary. Existing devices for such measurements are compared with a novel setup which consists of a toroidal anvil arrangement and a lightweight (50 kg) press with 250 tonnes (2.5 MN) capacity. Preliminary tests of this instrument with synchrotron radiation are reported. Presented at the IUCr Workshop on ‘Synchrotron Radiation Instrumentation for HighPressure Crystallography’. Daresbury Laboratory 20-21 July 1991