Solid iron compressed up to 560 GPa

Dynamic compression by multiple shocks is used to compress iron up to 560 GPa (5.6 Mbar), the highest solid-state pressure yet attained for iron in the laboratory. Extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy offers simultaneous density, temperature, and local-structure measurements for the compressed iron. The data show that the close-packed structure of iron is stable up to 560 GPa, the temperature at peak compression is significantly higher than expected from pure compressive work, and the dynamic strength of iron is many times greater than the static strength based on lower pressure data. The results provide the first constraint on the melting line of iron above 400 GPa.