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Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 3108 - 3111 (2001)

High Pressure Insulator-Metal Transition in Molecular Fluid Oxygen

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Marina Bastea *, Arthur C. Mitchell, and William J. Nellis
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, Livermore, California 94550

Featured in Physics News Update Received 14 December 2000

We report the first experimental evidence for a metallic phase in fluid molecular oxygen. Our electrical conductivity measurements of fluid oxygen under dynamic quasi-isentropic compression show that a nonmetal-metal transition occurs at 3.4 fold compression, 4500 K, and 1.2 Mbar. We discuss the main features of the electrical conductivity dependence on density and temperature and give an interpretation of the nature of the electrical transport mechanisms in fluid oxygen at these extreme conditions.


©2001 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.3108
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.3108
PACS: 71.30.+h, 62.50.+p, 72.20.-i, 77.22.Ej

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.Email address: bastea1@llnl.gov

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