Progress in the multi-anvil cell assembly development project COMPRES fiscal year. Kurt Leinenweber, James Tyburczy and Thomas G. Sharp, Arizona State University

New this year: we held a workshop!

Day 1 formal lectures (shown: Yanbin Wang)

Day 2 - 3, three experiments (shown: waiting for spheres to fall)

The Fall

Day 3: Student presentations (Clair Runge)

Day 3 (cont.) (Rachel Dwarski)

(Opening a sample)

Over 2000 octahedra “minted” (“savings” will be $36,000 when they are all used). 4 new molds made for injection-molding octahedra and cubes. New this year: more numerous affordable octahedra:

These $3.50 laser-cut rhenium furnaces are stable and their power curves are reproducible. Numerous affordable furnaces:

New ceramics: New batches of extruded ceramic pieces are in the finished size, resemble pasta noodles, and the cost is 50 cents per piece or even lower (shown: MgO, left, and forsterite, right).

New this year: assemblies were calibrated at beam lines and in-house, and further characterized through extended use at several locations. We’re working on complete assemblies. Shown: the 8/3, partially assembled.

New this year: The “Zirconia Problem.” Bad zirconia has temporarily wrecked our 14/8, 18/11 and 25/15 programs. We are now testing extruded zirconia from a new source.

New this year: In-situ assemblies: 2. Not shown: Forsterite or MgO sleeves outside the furnace, and mullite octahedra - new, low-Z combinations that work well! (Cubes being used in the DIAs at Brookhaven and APS: Hongbo Long and others). 1. Shown: Vertical windows in LaCrO 3 sleeve (CNC machining) with alumina window, and matching slits in Re furnace (laser-cut). To be tested in late July of this year.

Conclusions: We are figuring out how to make inexpensive and reliable assemblies like we had originally hoped, thanks to COMPRES. “COMPRES care packages” More specialized/improved assemblies are now on tap. We need to solve the “Zirconia problem” soon!