High pressure elastic properties, solid-liquid phase boundary and liquid equation of state from release wave measurements in shock-loaded copper

Measured release wave speeds in shock-loaded copper give information on high-pressure elastic properties up to the solid-liquid phase boundary at 2.32+/-0.05 Mbar. For impact pressures above 2.65+/-0.06 Mbar, the shocked state is completely melted copper and those release wave speeds give new experimental information on the liquid equation of state. The Hugoniot derived from solid and liquid equations of state developed from these experiments and the measured location of the phase boundary compare favorably with existing ab initio calculations.