Application of a new composite cubic-boron nitride gasket assembly for high pressure inelastic x-ray scattering studies of carbon related materials.

We have developed a new composite cubic-boron nitride (c-BN) gasket assembly for high pressure diamond anvil cell studies, and applied it to inelastic x-ray scattering (IXS) studies of carbon related materials in order to maintain a larger sample thickness and avoid the interference from the diamond anvils. The gap size between the two diamond anvils remained ~80 μm at 48.0 GPa with this new composite c-BN gasket assembly. The sample can be located at the center of the gap, ~20 μm away from the surface of both diamond anvils, which provides ample distance to separate the sample signal from the diamond anvils. The high pressure IXS of a solvated C(60) sample was studied up to 48 GPa, and a pressure induced bonding transition from sp(2) to sp(3) was observed at 27 GPa.