Pressure calibration in solid pressure transmitting medium in large volume press.

The pressure limit in the large-volume-press (LVP) is increasing, but the in situ pressure calibration in LVP is still not a well resolved problem. The variation of the electrical resistance of the manganin with pressure in a hydrostatic condition is well known and is widely used in the pressure calibration in LVP. However, the hydrostatic pressure condition is hard to be maintained for the unavoidable solidification of the pressure transmitting medium (PTM) with pressure increasing. Moreover, our understanding about the relationship between pressure and manganin's resistance in a solid transmitting medium is still limited. Therefore, it is difficult to calibrate higher pressure using manganin. We measured the electrical resistance of manganin under pressure in pyrophyllite, MgO, and NaCl, respectively. The results show a linear relationship between the resistance and pressure in the same PTM with good reproducibility. In addition, the resistance-pressure relationships of manganin in different PTM are obviously different. So the resistance of manganin in a given solid PTM can be satisfactorily used as a pressure gauge only in the same PTM but cannot be used in other pressure media. Our results make it possible to calibrate higher pressure in a solid pressure transmitting medium in LVP.