Spectra of single-bubble sonoluminescence in water and glycerin-water mixtures

A single gas bubble, acoustically levitated in a standing-wave field and oscillating under the action of that field, can emit pulses of blue-white light with duration less than 50 ps. Measurements of the spectrum of this picosecond sonoluminescence with a scanning monochrometer are reported for air bubbles levitated in water and in glycerin-water mixtures. While the spectrum has been reported previously by others for air bubbles in water, the spectrum for air bubbles in water-glycerin mixtures has not. Expected emission lines from glycerin were conspicuously absent, suggesting a different mechanism for light production in single-bubble sonoluminescence. Other conclusions are the spectrum for air bubbles in water is consistent with that previously reported, the radiated energy decreases as the glycerin concentration increases, and the peak of the spectrum appears to shift to longer wavelengths for the water-glycerin mixtures.This work was supported in part by the Office of Naval Research, the Defense Nuclear Agency, and the Naval Postgraduate School Research Program. The authors wish to thank David Cleary for the use of the scanning monochrometer and D. Scott Davis for many helpful discussions