Studies of spinodal decomposition in stratified solutions using laser methods

Self-excited spinodal decomposition oscillations are obtained in a binary, liquid, stratified mixture deep in the labile region. An opto-thermodynamic method is presented for locating the binodal and the spinodal in the temperature-concentration plane for stratified solutions with a lower critical point. It is shown that light-induced barodiffusion serves as an effective mechanism for quenching a stratified solution into the metastable region.