Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 25, 2026
Simulation of the Planetary Interior Differentiation Processes in the Laboratory
Published on: November 15, 2013
Electrical conductivity of SiO2 at extreme conditions and planetary dynamos
Roberto Scipioni1, Lars Stixrude2, Michael P Desjarlais3
1Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
Ab intio molecular dynamics simulations show that the electrical conductivity of liquid SiO2 is semimetallic at the conditions of the deep molten mantle of early Earth and super-Earths, raising the possibility of silicate dynamos in these bodies. Whereas the electrical conductivity increases uniformly with increasing temperature, it depends nonmonotonically on compression. At very high pressure, the electrical conductivity decreases on compression, opposite to the behavior of many materials. We show that this behavior is caused by a novel compression mechanism: the development of broken charge ordering, and its influence on the electronic band gap.
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