Image Intensifier Studies of Sonoluminescence from Liquids Subjected to Low Level Ultrasonic Pressure Amiplitudes

Image intensification has been used to study the light emission from bubbles in cavitating liquids (sonoluminescence), over a range of ultrasonic power inputs. The observations demonstrate that light is emitted under conditions of stable as well as transient cavitation. Since light emission indicates high temperatures and radiative recombination of free radicals in the collapsing bubbles, these results have important implications for medical applications of continuous wave ultrasound.