High-pressure–high-temperature equation of state of KCl and KBr

The equation of state of KCl and KBr, compressed in a helium pressure medium in a diamond-anvil cell, has been measured by x-ray diffraction in the B1 and B2 phases up to 165 GPa at 298 K. The $P$-$V$-$T$ of B2 KCl and B2 KBr has been calculated by ab initio molecular dynamics in a wide compression range and up to 7000 K. The thermal pressure exhibits a linear behavior with temperature and remains low under high compression. The experimental $P$-$V$ points and the thermal pressure calculated by molecular dynamics have been used to set up a high-pressure--high-temperature equation of state of B2 KCl and B2 KBr. With these equations of state, B2 KCl and B2 KBr can be used as pressure markers in laser-heated diamond-anvil-cell experiments.