Electrical transport properties of condensed matter at high pressure and temperature are critical for understanding their phase transitions and electronic structure evolution under extreme conditions [1, 2]. In this study, we develop an in situ method for measuring electrical conductivity of metals under shock compression with a temporal resolution of 100 ps. Using this technique, we determine the electrical resistivity of copper up to shock pressures of 260 GPa employing a two-stage light-gas gun.
A pronounced jump in resistivity is observed across the shock-induced melting transition of copper at 210-220 GPa and 5000(300) K. These results demonstrate that electrical transport measurements can serve as a robust diagnostic for constraining the melting behavior of metals under dynamic compression. Notably, this work represents the first experimental determination of the electrical resistivity of molten metals at such extreme pressures.

References:
[1] Y. Zhang, M. Hou, G. Liu, C. Zhang, V.B. Prakapenka, E. Greenberg, Y. Fei, R.E. Cohen, J.-F. Lin, Reconciliation of Experiments and Theory on Transport Properties of Iron and the Geodynamo, Physical Review Letters, 125 (2020) 078501.
[2] B. Gan, J. Li, J. Gao, Q. Zeng, W. Song, Y. Zhuang, Y. Hua, Q. Wu, G. Jiang, Y.J.P.R.B. Yin, Electrical conductivity of copper under ultrahigh pressure and temperature conditions by both experiments and first-principles simulations, Physical Review B, 109 (2024) 115129.

Shock compression,Electrical conductivity,phase transition