During the first experiments using diamond anvils, the sample was placed on the flat tip of the diamond (the culet) and pressed between the diamond faces. As the diamond faces were pushed closer together, the sample would be pressed and extrude out from the center. Using a microscope to view the sample, it could be seen that a smooth pressure gradient existed across the sample with the outermost portions of the sample acting as a kind of gasket. The sample was not evenly distributed across the diamond culet but localized in the center due to the "cupping" of the diamond at higher pressures. This cupping phenomenon is the elastic stretching of the edges of the diamond culet, commonly referred to as the "shoulder height". Many diamonds were broken during the first stages of producing a new cell or any time an experiment is pushed to higher pressure. The NBS group was in a unique position where almost endless supplies of diamonds were available to them. Customs officials occasionally confiscated diamonds from people attempting to smuggle them into the country. Disposing of such valuable confiscated materials could be problematic given rules and regulations. One solution was simply to make such materials available to people at other government agencies if they could make a convincing case for their use. This became an unrivaled resource as other teams at the University of Chicago, Harvard University, and General Electric entered the high pressure field.