Lead selenide as a continuous internal indicator of pressure in solid-media cells of high-pressure apparatus in the range of 4 - 6.8 GPa

The electric resistance of lead selenide (PbSe) has been investigated as a function of pressure over the range 3-7 GPa with a multi-anvil (8/6) split-sphere high-pressure apparatus. The resistance has two extrema, a minimum at 4 GPa and a maximum at 6.8 GPa. The ratio of these two values (R m a x /R m i n ) exceeds 1000. The resistance increases 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, and 1000 times relative to R m i n at the pressures of 5.00 1 , 5.19 2 , 5.50 1 , 5.63 2 , 6.01 3 , and 6.35 2 GPa, respectively. The interval of the error of pressure determination at room temperature on the basis of the variation of the electric resistance of PbSe is estimated as ′0.05 GPa. It is suggested that PbSe is a simple and reliable continuous internal indicator of pressure in a solid-media high-pressure apparatus.