Constant electrical resistivity of Ni along the melting boundary up to 9 GPa

Abstract

AbstractCharacterization of transport properties of liquid Ni at high pressures has important geophysical implications for terrestrial planetary interiors, because Ni is a close electronic analogue of Fe and it is also integral to Earth's core. We report measurements of the electrical resistivity of solid and liquid Ni at pressures 3–9 GPa using a 3000 t multianvil large volume press. A four‐wire method, in conjunction with a rapid acquisition meter and polarity switch, was used to overcome experimental challenges such as melt containment and maintaining sample geometry and to mitigate the extreme reactivity/solubility of liquid Ni with most thermocouple and electrode materials. Thermal conductivity is calculated using the Wiedemann‐Franz law. Electrical resistivity of solid Ni exhibits the expected P dependence and is consistent with earlier experimental values. Within experimental uncertainties, our results indicate that resistivity of liquid Ni remains invariant along the P‐dependent melting boundary, which is in disagreement with earlier prediction for liquid transition metals. The potential reasons for such behavior are examined qualitatively through the impact of P‐independent local short‐range ordering on electron mean free path and the possibility of constant Fermi surface at the onset of Ni melting. Correlation among metals obeying the Kadowaki‐Woods ratio and the group of late transition metals with unfilled d‐electron band displaying anomalously shallow melting curves suggests that on the melting boundary, Fe may exhibit the same resistivity behavior as Ni. This could have important implications for the heat flow in the Earth's core.