Advances in the use of Paris-Edinburgh presses for high pressure neutron scattering

Paris-Edinburgh (PE) presses are nowadays the dominant high pressure devices for neutron scattering in the 10 GPa range and above. Here, we present developments of gasket-anvil assemblies with 30% improved pressure performance and considerably increased lifetime compared to the currently used "single-toroidal" anvils, and giving nevertheless a similar signal-to-background ratio. We also present an improved Bridgman seal package which makes the low-temperature operation of the PE press significantly more reliable. A systematic investigation of background sources in the "equatorial" scattering geometry is reported.