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Nature 418, 381-383 (25 July 2002) | doi:10.1038/418381b
Sonoluminescence: Inside a micro-reactor
Detlef Lohse
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Abstract
Gas bubbles in a liquid can convert sound energy into light. Detailed measurements of a single bubble show that, in fact, most of the sound energy goes into chemical reactions taking place inside this 'micro-reactor'.
'Single-bubble sonoluminescence' is the remarkable phenomenon that describes how a gas bubble in liquid, exposed to a strong, standing sound wave, collapses and emits light. First observed 12 years ago1, the basic physics of the process seems to be understood2.
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