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Updated: Aug 16, 2026

Synthesis and Microdiffraction at Extreme Pressures and Temperatures
Published on: October 7, 2013
Strategies for reducing preferred orientation and strain in powder samples for high-pressure synchrotron X-ray
Oliver Tschauner1, Jason McClure, Malcolm Nicol
1High Pressure Science and Engineering Center, Department of Physics, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA. olivert@physics.unlv.edu
Abstract:
Among the many problems associated with high-pressure X-ray diffraction from polycrystalline samples in the diamond-anvil cell are strain and preferred orientation. A method is presented for efficiently reducing preferred orientation of powder samples compressed in diamond-anvil cells to pressures in excess of 20 GPa. This method may be successfully applied to samples of yield strength higher than alkalihalides. In addition, the problem of strain is discussed using ice-VII as an example and as an illustration of the importance of laser heating as a method of minimizing strain.
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