High-Pressure Laboratory

The high-pressure laboratory is equipped with two end-loaded piston-cylinders and diamond anvil cell (DAC) capabilities.

We employ two 250-ton end-loaded piston cylinder presses (one fabricated by Rockland Research and one fabricated by Rensselaer Polytechnique Institute) capable of achieving pressures relevant to planetary mantles on samples up to several cubic millimeters in size (up to 4 GPa and 2600°C). The rigs include a pressure-holding system and both ½” and ¾” pressure vessels.

We have six symmetric diamond anvil cells capable of achieving pressures in excess of a megabar (corresponding to the depth of Earth’s metallic core).

The department hosts all the necessary auxiliary experimental and analytical equipment (EPMA, SEM, Raman, XRCT, XRD, FTIR, PUK welder, assembly fabrication, EDM drilling, microscopes, the low-pressure and hydrothermal labs etc.). Laser heating is performed off-site at user facilities or through collaborations.

Applications

• The piston cylinder is ideal for studying how Earth’s solid interior melts to generate the crust
• Diamond anvil cells are capable of reaching the pressures found at the base of Earth’s mantle (3885km depth), and beyond. Because diamonds are transparent to many wavelengths of radiation, we can perform various types of spectroscopy while the sample is at ultra high pressures and temperatures.