Na emission and bubble instability in single-bubble sonoluminescence.

Na emission in single-bubble sonoluminescence (SBSL) was observed from 0.1mM sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) solution containing a dissolved noble gas at a low acoustic pressure, at which a continuous spectral component was negligible. High-speed shadowgraph movies were captured at a frame rate of 30,000fps, which indicated that bubble dancing is responsible for the Na emission. The measured bubble path length was well correlated with the Na intensity. The disintegration of a daughter bubble followed by immediate coalescence was frequently observed, which may have been the cause of the bubble dancing. A comparison of the Na spectra obtained in SBSL and multibubble SL showed that the conditions under which Na emission is generated are twofold. A narrow component was observed in the Na spectrum in SBSL, while narrow and broad components were observed in MBSL.