Experiments using diamond anvil cells (DAC) do not allow a very precise determination of the pressure and temperature parameters, more especially in the case of hydrothermal DAC such as Bassett type at high temperatures.
Therefore, we are working on a new kind of cell: the “intelligent” DAC (Burchard & al, Rev. Sci. Instr. 74, 2003, Figure 1) in collaboration with the Ruhr Universität Bochum, Germany.
In this cell, diamonds are modified in order to become pressure and temperature sensors. Therefore a piezoelectric structure is implanted below the diamond culets (Figure 2) using a particle accelerator (ARAMIS, CSNSM, IN2P3, Orsay, and Ruhr Universität Bochum, Germany).
Pressure and temperature calibrations are now under progress.