Resistance heating of the gasket in a gem-anvil high pressure cell

Resistance heating of the gasket strip in a gem-anvil high pressure cell was successful in obtaining sample temperatures up to 1100 °C, under pressures up to 4.0 GPa. The heating capabilities, as well as the mechanical and chemical stability, of several different gasket strips (two Ni-based alloys, Ta, Pt/Rh, and a Re/Mo alloy) with different design shapes, and two different single-crystal anvil materials (diamond and cubic zirconia) were investigated. Two gasket-strip designs were found to provide optimum uniform heating conditions while decreasing the required current needed to achieve 1100 °C. Two anvil systems were investigated to reduce the temperature increase of the pressure cell body. Cubic zirconia anvils reduced the cell-body temperature to 100 °C at sample temperatures up to 1100 °C. However, zirconia anvils often failed during heating and almost always failed during cooling. Diamond anvils with cubic zirconia mounting plates also permitted temperatures up to 1100 °C to be reached without anvil failure. However, the cell-body temperature increased to 300 °C. A sealed vacuum-type chamber was employed to eliminate the problem with gasket and anvil oxidation. The optimized operating parameters reported here provide a routine method for high temperature-high pressure studies. The method was used to densify and sinter nanosize amorphous silicon nitride and γ-alumina powders at high temperatures and high pressures.