Plasma etching of cavities into diamond anvils for experiments at high pressures and high temperatures

We describe a method for precisely etching small cavities into the culets of diamond anvils for the purpose of providing thermal insulation for samples in experiments at high pressures and high temperatures. The cavities were fabricated using highly directional oxygen plasma to reactively etch into the diamond surface. The lateral extent of the etch was precisely controlled to micron accuracy by etching the diamond through a lithographically fabricated tungsten mask. The performance of the etched cavities in high-temperature experiments in which the samples were either laser heated or electrically heated is discussed.