Laser heating in nano-polycrystalline diamond anvil cell

Abstract

Laser heating in a diamond anvil cell equipped with nano-polycrystalline diamond anvils (NPDAC) was tested for the first time. NPDAC was found to provide better heating efficiency than the standard DAC with single crystal anvils. This is probably attributed to an order of magnitude lower thermal conductivity of the NPD. High-temperature generation exceeding 4500 K was observed during laser heating of hcp-iron sample at pressure of ∼100 GPa. The present study demonstrates a promising potential of laser-heated NPDAC for generation of ultra-high temperature under multi-megabar pressure conditions equivalent to those of the Earth's core. © 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd.