Electrical conductivity of iron under shock compression up to 200 GPa

The electrical conductivity of shock-compressed iron was measured up to 208 GPa by using an improved sample assembly in which the iron sample is encapsulated in a single-crystal sapphire cell. High-pressure shock compressions were generated by plate impact with a two-stage light-gas gun. The measured conductivity of iron varies from 1.45x104 Ω -1 cm-1 at 101 GPa and 2010 K, to 7.65x103 Ω-1 cm-1 at 208 GPa and 5220 K. After analysing these data together with those reported previously, we found that the Bloch-Grueneisen expression is valid for ε-iron in the pressure and temperature range up to 208 GPa and 5220 K