Abstract

When an intense cw light beam is focused into an absorbing liquid, gas bubbles from the liquid can be generated. One of these bubbles is trapped by the thermal lens induced in the medium by the light beam. The trapped bubble upsets the thermal equilibrium and the light propagation. Interference rings of equal width are observed on a screen, located after the sample cell. A bright circle of light nonconcentric with respect to this interference pattern is also obtained. Our analysis shows that the bright circle corresponds to the light defocused by the bubble. Meanwhile, the interference pattern of rings refers to the light defocused by the thermal lens. The effect of total light reflection on the bubble surface is also studied.

© 1991 Optical Society of America