ASA 128th Meeting - Austin, Texas - 1994 Nov 28 .. Dec 02

2aPA7. Is sonoluminescence collision-induced emission?

Lothar Frommhold

Phys. Dept., Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1081

Anthony A. Atchley

Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA 93943

An estimate is attempted of the collision-induced emission (CIE) intensity and spectral profile in the visible and near UV region of the spectrum of N[sub 2]--(chi) pairs, where (chi) represents another N[sub 2] molecule or an argon atom, etc., for conditions that correspond to shock waves believed to exist in sonoluminescence experiments. Calculated profiles consist of superimposed high overtone bands and resemble measured profiles of sonoluminescence spectra. The intensities calculated on the basis of a few, simple assumptions concerning the induced dipole surface compare favorably with measurements. The agreement obtained suggests that collision-induced emission is a viable or even an attractive alternative to bremsstrahlung to explain sonoluminescence. According to the theory presented, the CIE source is optically thin so that the spectral emission profile is not related to Planck's radiation law.