Calculated pulse widths and spectra of a single sonoluminescence bubble

A sonoluminescing bubble has been modeled as a thermally conducting, partially ion-ized, two-component plasma. The model shows that the measured picosecond pulse widths are due to electron conduction and the rapidly changing opacity of the plasma and that these mechanisms are also responsible for the absence of an “afterglow” subsequent to the sonoluminescence flash while the hot bubble expands and cools. The calculated spectra for sonoluminescing nitrogen and argon bubbles suggest that a sonoluminescing air bubble probably contains only argon, in agreement with a recent theoretical analysis. Sonoluminescence (SL) arises from the nu-cleation, growth, and collapse of gas-filled bubbles in a liquid. A single acoustically levitated and trapped bubble (1, 2) exhibits SL characterized by light emission that is synchronous with the periodic acoustic driving field, has a measured pulse width o