Abstract

Optical breakdown and spherical bubble collapse are two different nonlinear mechanisms producing a large energy density within a small spatial region. Extreme states of matter with pressures p up to 10⁷ MPa (100 Megabar) for femtosecond optical breakdown, and temperatures T ranging from 10⁴ up to 10⁸ K for the collapse of bubbles oscillating in a sound field have been reported [1,2]. However, because of the small spatial and temporal scale on which the extremes occur, it is impossible to directly measure p and T but they have to be inferred from other experimental information and equation of state (EOS) data, which is a challenging task.

© 2009 IEEE