Abstract: The transient resonance of a sonoluminescence bubble has been analysed. When the bubble performs its transient resonance at the nth order harmonics of the standing waves in the liquid, the light intensity strongly depends on the amplitude of the driving pressure (proportional to its 2n power, with $n=f_r/f$, where $f_r$ is Minnaert's linear resonant frequency of the bubble and f is the frequency of driving sound). The kinetic energy of a vibrating bubble becomes maximum approximately when it is in its equilibrium size. For example, when the ambient temperature of a bubble decreases from 34℃ to 4℃, a huge increase of the light intensity emitted by it can be explained. A suggestion was made that, within the limits permitted by the phase diagrams, as high an increase in driving pressure as possible could enhance the light intensity of sonoluminescence up to four orders of magnitude.

Key words: sonoluminescence, nonlinear acoustics, transient resonance of a bubble