Sonoluminescence and acoustic cavitation

Sonoluminescence (SL) is light emission under high-temperature and high-pressure conditions of a cavitating bubble under intense ultrasound in liquid. In this review, the fundamentals of the interactions between the sound field and the bubble, and between bubbles are explained. Experimental results on high-speed shadowgraphy of bubble dynamics and multibubble SL are shown, demonstrating that the SL intensity is closely related to the bubble dynamics. SL studies of alkali-metal atom (Na and K) emission are summarized. The spectral measurements in solutions with different noble-gas dissolutions and in surfactant solutions, and the results of spatiotemporal separation of SL distribution strongly suggested that the site of alkali-metal atom emission is the gas phase inside bubbles. The spectral studies indicated that alkali-metal atom lines are composed of two kinds of lines: a component that is broadened and shifted from the original D lines arises from van der Waals molecules formed between alkali-metal atoms and noble-gas atoms under extreme conditions at bubble collapse. The other spectral component exhibiting no broadening and no shift was suggested to originate from higher temperature bubbles than those producing the broadened component.