Portable multi-anvil device for in situ angle-dispersive synchrotron diffraction measurements at high pressure and temperature

A recently developed portable multi-anvil device for in situ angle-dispersive synchrotron diffraction studies at pressures up to 25 GPa and temperatures up to 2000 K is described. The system consists of a 450 ton V7 Paris-Edinburgh press combined with a Stony Brook `T-cup' multi-anvil stage. Technical developments of the various modifications that were made to the initial device in order to adapt the latter to angular-dispersive X-ray diffraction experiments are fully described, followed by a presentation of some results obtained for various systems, which demonstrate the power of this technique and its potential for crystallographic studies. Such a compact large-volume set-up has a total mass of only 100 kg and can be readily used on most synchrotron radiation facilities. In particular, several advantages of this new set-up compared with conventional multi-anvil cells are discussed. Possibilities of extension of the (P,T) accessible domain and adaptation of this device to other in situ measurements are given.