title: Note: Achieving quasi-hydrostatic conditions in large-volume toroidal anvils for neutron scattering to pressures of up to 18 GPa.
abstract: We present developments that allow neutron-scattering experiments to be performed, with both single-crystal and powder samples, under quasi-hydrostatic conditions to pressures beyond previous limits. Samples of sodium chloride and squaric acid (H(2)C(4)O(4)) have been loaded with argon as the pressure-transmitting medium in encapsulated gaskets redesigned for double-toroidal anvils, using a gas-loading method at ambient temperature. These samples have been compressed up to 18 GPa in a Paris-Edinburgh press, and no evidence of peak broadening in either the single-crystal or the powder experiments was observed.
authors.affiliation: SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy and Centre for Science at Extreme Conditions, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JZ, United Kingdom. craig.bull@ed.ac.uk
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Bull
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bocian
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hamidov
authors.forename: K V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Kamenev
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Nelmes
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Loveday