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Sonoluminescence

star in a jar

In Single Bubble Sonoluminescence(SBSL) a bubble of gas is trapped in water by an externally applied  ultrasonic (f  > 15 kHz) field.  The acoustic field acts to expand and contract the bubble during each cycle.  When the acoustic field is forced to be large enough, the collapse can become so violent that light  (see the photograph below) is emitted! The main focus of our experiment concerns the nature of the light emitting mechanism which is not yet understood. We study the effects of mixing in different noble gases in the trapped bubble.  In this photograph, the bubble is illuminated by a laser beam for Mie scattering measurement.

  A photograph of SBSL set up in a laboratory flask.    Note the small blue sonoluminescing bubble near the center of the flask (which is illuminated slightly to show its contour).  The dot is not a speck of dust on the flask nor on your monitor!  Wires attached to the PZT transducers are also visible.  The water is prepared by degassing the water for 30 minutes.  The top surface of the water is visible. The resonant frequency is about 28 kHz. __photo by Tamer Elkholy, Rutgers Undergraduate Research Fellow.
Sonoluminescence Home           Introduction                Apparatus            Publications

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