SONOLUMINESCENCE: SOUND INTO LIGHT

The energy of a sound wave in a fluid can concentrate by 12 orders of magnitude to create flashes of light that can be shorter than 50 picoseconds. A picosecond is a millionth of a millionth of a second. The flashes originate from hot spots that form inside bubbles that nucleate, expand, and crash in response to the travelling sound wave. We have observed hot spots as small as 10 nanometers and as large as 100 microns. We can generate them one shake at a time or at a rep rate of 10 million times per second. Will the degree of energy focusing that can be achieved with the physics of sonoluminescence someday reach to thermo-nuclear fusion?