Hamlin Laboratory
Science of materials under extreme conditions
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Equipment and Facilities
Below, you will find a brief summary of the equipment available in Hamlin Laboratory. Please feel free to contact us if there is a piece of equipment that you would like to use.
High-pressure/low-temperature system This is one of the main systems used in our lab. The base temperature is about 1.5 K. A diamond anvil cell fits inside the cryostat. Windows at the bottom of the cryostat and a home built optical system allow pressure to be measured in situ at low temperatures using either the ruby fluorescence or diamond vibron manometer. The system allows electrical transport and ac magnetic susceptibility to pressures in excess of one megabar. Force is applied to the diamonds using a gas-filled diaphragm, so that pressure can be applied at low temperatures. We use a Pace 5000 computer controlled pressure regulator to allow the load to be smoothly ramped and finely controlled.
Pressure cells We utilize several different pressure cells including Teflon-capsule piston-cylinder cells as well as diamond anvil cells. The maximum pressures accessible with these cells range from kilobars (the pressure at the bottom of the ocean) to megabars (the pressure near the core of the earth).
Designer diamond anvils Through a collaboration with S.T. Weir (LLNL) and Y. K. Vohra (U. Alabama at Birmingham), we are utilizing "designer diamond anvils." These are specially fabricated diamonds with integrated electrical probes. These anvils facilitate performing electrical transport measurements at high pressure. The photograph shows six tungsten microprobes contacting a tiny sample of BiTeI at a pressure that is roughly 300,000 times atmospheric pressure. The bright circle has a diameter of about 200 microns.
Quantum Design Physical Properties Measurement System This is an automated measurement system that can reach temperatures of 1.6 K and magnetic fields up to 9 tesla. We currently have the AC transport and specific heat options. We have both piston-cylinder and diamond anvil high pressure cells that can be installed inside the PPMS. For these cells, we measure pressure in-situ using an optical fiber.
Edmund-Buehler MAM-1 arc furnace This system is used to synthesize materials by heating via a high voltage arc that can heat samples to several thousand degrees C.
Glass working bench This glass working bench, pumping manifold, and hydrogen/oxygen torch allows us to seal samples inside of quartz or Pyrex under an inert (argon) atmosphere. We use this system to synthesize samples via growth from melt, flux growth, and vapor transport.
Fume hoods Our laboratory is equipped with two fume hoods that are used for working with various hazardous materials.
Carver hydraulic press This press is used for loading pressure cells. It is capable of reaching loads up to 50 tons, e.g. 100,000 pounds-force.
M Braun glovebox with integrated microscope This glovebox maintains a nitrogen atmosphere with oxygen and water levels kept at the sub ppm level. An integrated stereo microscope allows us to load air sensitive samples into our diamond anvil cells.
Siemens D500 xray diffractometer This powder xray diffractometer is used to identify the products of synthesis experiments. Data analysis is carried out using Jade together with the ICSD database.
Boehler microDriller This electro-discharge-machine (EDM) driller is used for drilling holes in diamond anvil cell gaskets. It is capable of drilling holes in any conductive materials. Drilling diameters range from 1 mm down to 50 microns.
Anatech sputterer We typically use this sputtering machine to deposit gold pads onto our samples in order to improve electrical contacts.
Micro-balances We have several scales in the lab for weighing samples. The Cahn 25 is capable of microgram precision.
Furnaces Our laboratory is equipped with several furnaces used for synthesizing new materials. This includes two 1200 C and one 1000 C box furnaces, a three zone tube furnace, and a 1600 C furnace (pictured at the left). Several of the furnaces are enclosed in an externally exhausted hood (right photograph).
Microscopes We have several stereo microscopes for connecting wires to tiny samples and loading samples into diamond anvil cells. One of the microscopes is equipped with a camera/monitor system that can be used for photographic or video capture.