Temperature nonequilibration during single-bubble sonoluminescence

Single-bubble sonoluminescence (SBSL) spectra from liquids having low vapor pressures, especially mineral acids, are exceptionally rich. During SBSL from aqueous sulfuric acid containing dissolved neon, rovibronic emission spectra reveal vibrationally hot sulfur monoxide (SO; T _v = 2100 K) that is also rotationally cold (T _r = 290 K). In addition to SO, excited neon atom emission gives an estimated temperature, for neon, of several thousand Kelvin. This nonequilibrated temperature is consistent with dynamically constrained SO formation at the liquid-vapor interface of the collapsing bubble. Formation occurs via collisions of fast neon atoms (generated within the collapsing bubble) with liquid-phase molecular species in the interfacial region, thus allowing for a mechanistic understanding of the processes leading to light emission.