Electrical Conductivity of Xenon at Megabar Pressures

Abstract

The electrical transport properties of solid xenon were directly measured at pressures up to 155 GPa and temperatures from 300 K to 27 mK. The temperature dependence of resistance changed from semiconducting to metallic at pressures between 121 and 138 GPa, revealing direct proof of metallization of a rare-gas solid by electrical transport measurements. Anomalies in the conductivity are observed at low temperatures in the vicinity of the transition such that purely metallic behavior is observed only at 155 GPa over the entire temperature range.