Calibration of an isotopically enriched carbon-13 layer pressure sensor to 156 GPa in a diamond anvil cell

An isotopically enriched C 13 homoepitaxial diamond layer of 6 ± 1 μ m thickness was grown on top of a brilliant cut diamond anvil by a microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition process for application as a pressure sensor. This isotopically enriched diamond tip was then used in conjunction with a natural isotopic abundance diamond anvil to generate high pressure on the sample. We provide a calibration for the C 13 Raman mode of this extremely thin epitaxial layer to 156 GPa using ruby fluorescence and the equation of state of copper as secondary pressure standards. The nonlinear calibration of the C 13 Raman mode pressure sensor is compared with similar calibrations of C 12 Raman edge and a good agreement is obtained. The Raman signal from the C 13 epitaxial layer remained a distinct singlet to 156 GPa , and pressure calibration is independent of sample mechanical strength or the diamond anvil geometry. The use of even thinner layer would allow calibration further into ultrahigh pressure regime where the use of other optical sensors has proven to be difficult.