Diamond anvil cell behavior up to 4 Mbar.

The diamond anvil cell (DAC) is considered one of the dominant devices to generate ultrahigh static pressure. The development of the DAC technique has enabled researchers to explore rich high-pressure science in the multimegabar pressure range. Here, we investigated the behavior of the DAC up to 400 GPa, which is the accepted pressure limit of a conventional DAC. By using a submicrometer synchrotron X-ray beam, double cuppings of the beveled diamond anvils were observed experimentally. Details of pressure loading, distribution, gasket-thickness variation, and diamond anvil deformation were studied to understand the generation of ultrahigh pressures, which may improve the conventional DAC techniques.