Sonoluminescence

Common card · No. 238301

Sonoluminescence is luminescence induced by sound waves, such as in the emission of light from imploding bubbles in a liquid when excited by sound. Sonoluminescence is sometimes considered a kind of mechanoluminescence. However, mechanoluminescence is typically defined as pertaining to solids, while sonoluminescence usually pertains to liquids. The related terms acoustoluminescence and sonotriboluminescence have been used to describe sound-induced luminescence in solids (e.g., crystals suspended in slurries). Sonoluminescence was first discovered in 1934 at the University of Cologne. It occurs when a sound wave of sufficient intensity induces a gaseous cavity within a liquid to collapse quickly, emitting a burst of light. The phenomenon can be observed in stable single-bubble sonoluminescence (SBSL) and multi-bubble sonoluminescence (MBSL). In 1960, Peter Jarman proposed that sonoluminescence is thermal in origin and might arise from microshocks within collapsing cavities. Later experiments...

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