Thermal Conductivity of Iron at High Temperatures and Pressures

Abstract

The thermal conductivity of iron, k, under conditions of high temperatures and pressures is evaluated from the measured temperature distributions in laser-heating experiments in the diamond-anvil cell. The interpretation of the results is based on the assumption that k is essentially electronic, and is dominated by electron-phonon scattering, normal and Umklapp processes being involved. Reasonable agreement with k data for iron, deduced from shock wave measurement is found.