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Article: Bubble light in the blink of an eye. (upper limit established at which oscillating gas bubbles emit light flashes)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- May 11, 1991
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1991 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Like a miniature lighthouse beacon, an oscillating gas bubble driven by sound waves can emit a remarkably steady stream of light flashes. Immersed in a liquid, the bubble extracts energy from the surrounding sound field, concentrating this energy more than a trillion times to generate light.
Researchers have now determined that each light flash lasts less than 100 pico-seconds, a time interval considerably shorter than the duration of a soundwave cycle. "This is a spectacular phenomenon," says physicist Seth Putterman of the University of California, Los Angeles, who led the team that established this upper limit. Putterman described his group's findings at ...