Single bubble sonoluminescence

Single Bubble Sonoluminescence (SBSL) is the phenomena by which a small bubble of gas is driven by ultrasonic waves to emit photons. For each cycle of the sound field a very short pulse of light is emitted. These pulses can range from thirty, to four hundred picoseconds dependent upon the over all intensity of the light emission and the gas dissolved in the host fluid, usually water. The most prevailing theory for SBSL is based on a transparent plasma bremsstrahlung model for the light emission. This thesis will demonstrate that SBSL is better fit to a blackbody model.; This thesis displays the first reliable data for a hydrogen, deuterium and ethane bubbles. The measurements include radius versus time curves for the bubble motion, spectra and flash width as a function of wavelength. This thesis will also provide an answer to the question of why SBSL becomes more intense as the fluid is cooled.