A HIGH-PRESSURE OPTICAL-CELL UTILIZING SINGLE-CRYSTAL CUBIC ZIRCONIA ANVIL WINDOWS

A high pressure optical cell capable of producing pressures up to 13.2 GPa using gem-cut single crystal cubic zirconia (CZ) anvils was devel oped. Maximum pressures obtainable were found to depend upon the parti cular pressure transmitting medium and gasket material employed. The c ubic zirconia anvil high pressure cell (CZAC) provides advantages over the diamond anvil cell in optical and infrared spectroscopy while sti ll maintaining a substantial pressure capability. To demonstrate these advantages, microRaman, optical fluorescence, and infrared absorption measurements were made on diamond, ruby, and 1,3,5-trinitrohexahydro- 1,3,5-triazine samples, respectively, using the CZAC cell under high p ressure conditions.