Measurements of the Equation of State of Deuterium at the Fluid Insulator-Metal Transition
G. W. Collins,
L. B. Da Silva,
P. Celliers,
D. M. Gold,
M. E. Foord,
R. J. Wallace,
A. Ng,
S.
V. Weber,
K. S. Budil,
R. Cauble
*
A high-intensity laser was used to shock-compress liquid deuterium
to pressures from 22 to 340 gigapascals. In this regime deuterium is
predicted to transform from an insulating molecular fluid to an atomic
metallic fluid. Shock densities and pressures, determined by
radiography, revealed an increase in compressibility near 100 gigapascals indicative of such a transition. Velocity interferometry
measurements, obtained by reflecting a laser probe directly off the
shock front in flight, demonstrated that deuterium shocked above 55 gigapascals has an electrical conductivity characteristic of a liquid
metal and independently confirmed the radiography.
G. W. Collins, L. B. Da Silva, P. Celliers, D. M. Gold, M. E. Foord, R. J. Wallace, S. V. Weber, K. S. Budil, R. Cauble, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore,
CA 94550, USA. A. Ng, University of British Columbia, Vancouver V6T
1Z1, BC, Canada.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed.
