Observation of laser speckle effects and nonclassical kinetics in an elementary chemical reaction

An experimental demonstration is provided for memory-based, nonclassical re action kinetics in a homogeneous system with an elementary reaction, A + B --> C. A new reaction-kinetics regime is observed which is a direct consequ ence of speckles in the laser beam. However, in spite of the nonrandom, spe ckled initial distribution of reactant B, the long-time regime gives the fi rst experimental demonstration of the asymptotic self-segregation ("Zeldovi ch") effect. Monte Carlo simulation results are consistent with the experim ents.