The mechanism of the light emission of single-bubble sonoluminescence (SBSL) is studied theoretically based on the quasiadiabatic compression model. It is concluded that SBSL is not the blackbody radiation but the thermal radiation. It is clarified that the shape of the spectrum is determined by the temperature inside the bubble and the intensity is determined by the rates of the microscopic processes of the light emission. For a noble-gas bubble, radiative recombination of electrons and ions and electron-atom bremsstrahlung are the dominant microscopic processes of the light emission, and the intensity is mainly determined by the degree of ionization of the gas inside the bubble. It is also clarified that for a noble-gas bubble the pulse width of the light is nearly independent of wavelength.

• Received 7 July 1998

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.60.1754