SBIR PHASE I: Supercell for Achieving Very High Static Pressures and Temperatures in Relatively Large Working Volumes

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This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop a new high pressure/high temperature (HPHT) cell for conventional hot pressing units, which will be capable of achieving very high static pressures and temperatures in relatively large working volumes. This new unit, which is called a 'supercell', will enable pressures up to 30 GPa and temperatures up to ~5000C in a working volume of 1 mm3. In contrast, a conventional diamond anvil cell can attain pressures of ~30 GPa in a working volume of only ~1 mm3, with temperatures limited to about 400C. Thus, the supercell will have capabilities for processing materials that reach beyond those of today's systems. Utilizing the significant pressure/temperature/volume range of the supercell, it should be possible to obtain the very high pressure and very high temperature needed for crystallization of diamond from liquid carbon, and make possible the study of unknown regions of the carbon state (phase) diagram. HPHT crystallization of diamond from liquid carbon provides an opportunity to produce nanocrystalline, microcrystalline, or monocrystalline diamond, depending on the cooling rate from the liquid state, as well as opening new possibilities for doping diamond with boron and/or nitrogen.This project, if successful, will enable manufacture of pure and doped nanocrystalline, microcrystalline and monocrystalline diamonds, and will facilitate the production of advanced anvils for the diamond industry as well as for production of inserts for drill bits. The technology also has important potential for university laboratories.