Diamond anvil cell

A diamond anvil cell compresses a tiny sample between opposed diamond tips, reaching pressures comparable to those deep inside planets while allowing optical and X-ray measurements.

Diamond anvils: Opposed, shaped diamond tips that concentrate force onto a small sample area. Their hardness and transparency let the cell sustain pressure while exposing the sample to probes.
High-pressure crystallography: The study of crystal structures under pressure, commonly using X-ray diffraction. X-rays can pass through the diamonds to reveal pressure-induced structural changes.
Pressure: Force exerted per unit area on a surface or within a material. The cell’s defining achievement is generating enormous pressure over a microscopic area.
Percy Williams Bridgman: An American physicist who pioneered experimental high-pressure physics and received the 1946 Nobel Prize in Physics. His opposed-anvil methods supplied key ideas for later diamond pressure cells.
Gasket (high-pressure experiments): A thin metal sheet with a small hole that confines a sample between opposed anvils. Its hole holds the sample and pressure medium as the diamonds compress them.
Synchrotron radiation: Electromagnetic radiation emitted by charged particles accelerated in storage rings or related facilities. Its intense, focused X-rays enable diffraction from the cell’s minute sample.
Pascal (unit): The SI unit of pressure, equal to one newton per square metre. Pressures in cell experiments are reported in pascals and their multiples.
Charles E. Weir: An American physicist associated with the early development of diamond-anvil high-pressure apparatus. His work helped establish the diamond cell as a practical laboratory instrument.
Pressure medium: A fluid or solid placed around a sample to transmit pressure and reduce stress gradients. Its hydrostatic behavior determines how uniformly the sample is compressed.
High-pressure chemistry: The study of chemical reactions and materials under pressures far above ambient conditions. The cell can drive reactions and bonding changes unavailable at ordinary pressure.

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