A diamond anvil cell (DAC) is a high-pressure device used in geology, engineering, and materials science experiments. It enables the compression of a small (sub-millimeter-sized) piece of material to extreme pressures, typically up to around 100–200 gigapascals, although it is possible to achieve pressures up to 770 gigapascals (7,700,000 bars or 7.7 million atmospheres).The device has been used to recreate the pressure existing deep inside planets to synthesize materials and phases not observed under normal ambient conditions. Notable examples include the non-molecular ice X, polymeric nitrogen and metallic phases of xenon, lonsdaleite, and potentially metallic hydrogen.A DAC consists of two opposing diamonds with a sample compressed between the polished culets (tips). Pressure may be monitored using a reference material whose behavior under pressure is known. Common pressure standards include ruby fluorescence, and various structurally simple metals, such as copper or platinum. The uniaxial pressure supplied by the DAC may be transformed into uniform hydrostatic pressure using a pressure-transmitting medium, such as argon, xenon, hydrogen, helium, paraffin...