Temperature dependence of the Brillouin linewidth in water

Abstract

In the frequency spectrum of light that is scattered in liquid water there is a central elastically scattered peak that is due mainly to scattering by suspended particles; and, there is a peak on each side of the central peak that is displaced by the Brillouin frequency shift. The Brillouin shift is a direct measure of sound speed. The linewidth of the Brillouin shifted lines is dependent on the bulk and shear viscosity of water as well as its density, thermal conductivity, and specific heat. The linewidth of the Brillouin peaks has been investigated in laboratory experiments over a range 1°C to 35°C. The frequency spectrum of back-scattered laser light was analysed using a scanning Fabry-Perot etalon. A strong dependence of the linewidth of the Brillouin shifted lines on temperature was found. In particular, for low temperatures in the range 10°C down to 1°C the linewidth shows an increase from 750 MHz to 1.4 GHz.