Metallization of hydrogen

Abstract

In previous work,1 we showed that hydrogen metallizes in phase III at temperatures below ~200 K and at pressures near ~350 GPa. Here, we perform a detailed study of electrical conductivity R(T) in phase III over a pressure range of 200-400 GPa and a temperature range of 80-300 K, and we show that hydrogen transforms from a semiconducting to a metallic state already at ~315 GPa. This transformation is also supported by Raman spectroscopy: the Raman signal intensity decreases with pressure in accordance with the appearance and increase of electrical conductivity. Moreover, the Raman and electrical measurements yield the same boundary between the hydrogen phases III and V.