Large density fluctuations were observed by illuminating a cylindrical cell filled with sulfur hexafluoride (SF(6)), very near its liquid-gas critical point (|T-T(c)|< 300 μK) and recorded using a microscope with 3 μm spatial resolution. Using a dynamic structure factor algorithm, we determined from the recorded images the structure factor (SF), which measures the spatial distribution of fluctuations at different moments, and the correlation time of fluctuations. This method authorizes local measurements in contrast to the classical scattering techniques that average fluctuations over the illuminating beam. We found that during the very early stages of phase separation the SF scales with the wave vector q according to the Lorentzian q(-2), which shows that the liquid and vapor domains are just emerging. The critical wave number, which is related to the characteristic length of fluctuations, steadily decreases over time, supporting a sustained increase in the spatial scale of the fluctuating domains. The scaled evolution of the critical wave number obeys the universal evolution for the interconnected domains at high volume fraction with an apparent power law exponent of -0.35 ± 0.02. We also determined the correlation time of the fluctuations and inferred values for thermal diffusivity coefficient very near the critical point, above and below. The values were used to pinpoint the crossing of T(c) within 13 μK.

In the supercritical phase, pure fluids have great potential for industrial applications and are increasingly used by industry as nonpolluting solvents of organic materials and media for high yield chemical reactions. The experimental data were recorded in microgravity for sulfur hexafluoride (SF 6 ) and on Earth for density-matching binary mixture of methanol and partially deuterated cyclohexane (CC*-Me). We used small angle light scattering experiments to investigate fluctuations in SF 6 near critical point and in density-matched binary mixture CC*-Me in the absence of convective flows. For binary mixture, we used three different filtering methods: bright filed (BF -no filter), phase contrast (PC -quarter wave plate at focal point) and dark field (DF -small opaque object at focal point). The power spectrum of scattered light contains information about local inhomogeneities encountered by light traveling through the sample cell unit (SCU). We found that the spatial correlations revealed by Fourier transforms follow power laws both for SF 6 in microgravity and binary mixture on Earth. This is an indication of the universality of fluctuation mechanisms. Temporal correlations of fluctuations were investigated using the correlation time.