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They trimmed each of the diamonds' points into a flat surface, or culet, 20–30 micrometres across, then aligned the diamonds with those truncated tips almost touching, on either side of a piece of metal foil pierced with a culet-sized hole that would enclose a minuscule experimental chamber.

If odd electrical signals start coming in from the culet electrodes, they may indicate the formation of a new phase of hydrogen — or that the diamond jaws are deforming, causing the electrodes to short out or emit spurious signals.

Eremets and Troyan found that laser pulses fired through the transparent diamond triggered small flows of electrons that they could detect by means of copper and gold electrodes deposited on the culet surfaces — behaviour characteristic of semiconducting materials, in which electrons need a small energy kick to flick them out of orbit around atoms and into a conductive flow.

The brilliant resembles two truncated cones, base to base, the edge of the junction being called the girdle, the large plane on the top is the table, and the small face at the base the culet; the sides are covered with symmetrical facets.

Culet, kū′let, n. the small flat surface at the back or bottom of a brilliant: the part of armour protecting the body behind, from the waist downwards—also Culette.