Piston pressure cell for low-temperature infrared investigations

Rev Sci Instrum. 2015 May;86(5):053904. doi: 10.1063/1.4920921.

Abstract

The design of a piston pressure cell ranging up to approximately 11 kilobars is reported, which allows for optical reflection measurements in the infrared spectral range from 100 to 8000 cm(-1) down to temperatures as low as 6 K. The mechanical alignment and vacuum considerations are discussed before details of the sample preparation are given, with particular emphasis on small and fragile single crystals, mosaics, and pressed powder. A few examples of one- and two-dimensional organic conductors illustrate the performance.