Solid-liquid hybrid assembly for ultrasonic elasticity measurements under hydrostatic conditions of up to 8 GPa in a Kawai-type multianvil apparatus

A solid-liquid hybrid assembly has been designed for ultrasonic elasticity measurements of materials under hydrostatic conditions in a Kawai-type multianvil apparatus. In the assembly, a tungsten-carbide cubic anvil served as the buffer rod for the acoustic signals. The transducer and sample were mounted on two diagonally opposite truncated corners of the buffer-rod anvil. The sample was immersed in a liquid cell filled with a liquid pressure medium, a methanol-ethanol mixture (4:1 in volume), which produced hydrostatic conditions for the sample. The pressure was monitored with a bismuth pressure calibrant inside the liquid cell. Preliminary experiments using single-crystal MgO, polycrystal alumina, and silicate glass samples were successfully conducted up to 8 GPa. This assembly is especially useful for precise elasticity measurements of single-crystal samples under hydrostatic compression.