Conically shaped single-crystalline diamond backing plates for a diamond anvil cell

Abstract

Based on computer-aided design (CAD) and finite-element calculations (FEM), single-crystalline diamond backing plates were tailored as a replacement of beryllium for high-pressure diamond anvil cells with a focus on in-house single-crystal experiments. Although the modified cell has an opening angle of 90°, a very homogeneous stress distribution all over the backing plate was realized to avoid failure. The conically shaped backing plates work well in the targeted pressure range up to ∼10GPa using diamond anvils with 0.6 mm culet diameter. This is shown by a compressibility study of the complex intermetallic alloy Mg2Co3Sn10.15 up to 9.69 GPa. The influence of simultaneous diffraction phenomena in the diamonds (diamond dips) is illustrated by single-counter and area-detector measurements using standard laboratory equipment.