Helium, diamond anvil cells

Because Raman spectroscopy requires one only to guide a laser beam to the sample and extract a scattered beam, the technique is easily adaptable to measurements as a function of temperature and pressure. High temperatures can be achieved by using a small furnace built into the sample compartment. Low temperatures, easily to 78 K (liquid nitrogen) and with some diflSculty to 4.2 K (liquid helium), can be achieved with various commercially available cryostats. Chambers suitable for Raman spectroscopy to pressures of a few hundred MPa can be constructed using sapphire windows for the laser and scattered beams. However, Raman spectroscopy is the characterizadon tool of choice in diamond-anvil high-pressure cells, which produce pressures well in excess of 100 GPa. ... 

---