Shock-induced transformation of liquid deuterium into a metallic fluid

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 sat urating at similar to(40-60)% in the range of shock velocities from 12 to 2 0 mu m/ns (pressure range 17-50 GPa). The high optical reflectance is evide nce that the shucked deuterium reaches a conducting state characteristic of a metallic fluid. Above 20 mu m/ns shock velocity (50 GPa pressure) reflec tance is constant indicating that the transformation is substantially compl ete.