Electric discharge machine for preparation of diamond anvil cell sample chambers

We have designed and constructed a novel electric discharge machine designed primarily for the preparation of sample chambers in rhenium and stainless steel gaskets for diamond anvil cell experiments. Our design combines automatic stage movement with relatively low voltage (100 V) operation and routinely achieves a drilling/erosion speed of approximately 0.4 μm s−1. The machine is used for preparing 100 μm diameter sample chambers for diamond anvil cell experiments with 250 μm culets and has also been used to prepare 50 μm diameter sample chambers for diamond anvil cell experiments with 100 μm culets to access a pressure of 165 GPa.