Segregation of vapor and gas in a sonoluminescing bubble

Computer simulations of bubble oscillations in water are performed for various noble gases taking into account the segregation of water vapor and noble gas inside a collapsing bubble, which was predicted by Storey and Szeri [J. Fluid Mech. 396 (1999) 203]. It is clarified that the number of water vapor molecules dissociated inside a collapsing bubble is larger for heavier noble gases because of the lower thermal conductivity and the segregation of vapor and noble gas. It is also clarified that the temperature inside a helium bubble at the collapse increases considerably by the mixture segregation because a lesser amount of vapor is trapped inside a collapsing bubble. It is also clarified that multibubble so no luminescence (MBSL) from heavier noble gases is brighter because of the lower ionization potential which results in the higher electron density and stronger plasma emissions. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.