High Pressure IV. The Limit?

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The Limit?

Obviously part of the glamour of high pressure research is to continuously strive to achieve yet higher pressures in the DAC, particularly to study materials in deep-earth or planetary conditions and to investigate the metallisation of gases (e.g. xenon, hydrogen) which occurs at high pressure. The highest pressures currently being achieved are around 350 Gpa (3.5 Mbar); the ultimate limit is probably set by the performance of diamond itself - either by its yield stress or that it might experience a transition itself: estimates on the ultimate limit of the DAC vary between 5 and 25 Mbar. However another kind of limit sought is that of combined pressure and temperature in which the sample is heated electrically or by shining a laser through the DAC onto the sample. With this technology combined conditions such as 1.5 Mbar plus 3000 K have been achieved.

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