Multi-aperture gasket for experiments at high pressure in a diamond-anvil cell

It is possible to study multiple samples which are concurrently at high pressure in a diamond-anvil cell, being convenient for investigations in a single compression or decompression sequence of pressures, if more than one sample cavity is drilled in the gasket. This has been demonstrated in "routine" sub-megabar luminescence experiments to 30-40 GPa and may potentially be extended to the megabar regime under a variety of P-T conditions if smaller sample cavities are utilized. The idea of multiple samples concurrently under high pressure in cavities of the same gasket may find fruitful application in experiments involving, micro-optical (Raman or infrared) spectroscopy, synchrotron x-ray diffraction, and laser-heating investigations, where the probe radiation may be confined to sample regions of less than 50 μm diameter.