Phase Transition to an Opaque Plasma in a Sonoluminescing Bubble

Time-resolved spectrum measurements of a sonoluminescing Xe bubble reveal a transition from transparency to an opaque Planck blackbody. As the temperature is <10 000 K and the density is below liquid density, the photon scattering length is 10 000 times too large to explain its opacity. We resolve this issue with a model that reduces the ionization potential. According to this model, sonoluminescence originates in a new phase of matter with high ionization. Analysis of line emission from Xe* also yields evidence of phase segregation for this first-order transition inside a bubble.