About carbon reflectivity in the Mbar regime

We present some experimental measurements of the reflectivity change in carbon compressed to Mbar pressures with 'two-layer–two-materials' targets made of porous carbon deposited on a transparent substrate. This may provide possible evidence of metallization in the liquid state. Numerical simulations were required to optimize target parameters and to clarify shock dynamics. An increase of reflectivity in carbon has been observed at about 2.6 Mbar and 14 000 K.