title: Shock-induced transformation of liquid deuterium into a metallic fluid
abstract: Simultaneous measurements of shock velocity and optical reflectance at 1064, 808, and 404 nm of a high pressure shock front propagating through liquid deuterium show a continuous increase in reflectance from below 10% and saturating at approximately (40-60)% in the range of shock velocities from 12 to 20 &mgr;m/ns (pressure range 17-50 GPa). The high optical reflectance is evidence that the shocked deuterium reaches a conducting state characteristic of a metallic fluid. Above 20 &mgr;m/ns shock velocity (50 GPa pressure) reflectance is constant indicating that the transformation is substantially complete.
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, Livermore, California 94551, USA.
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Celliers
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.lastname: Da Silva LB
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Gold
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cauble
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Foord
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Hammel