Abstract: A method for making a fluorescent gold nano-material having a gold nanocluster and thiol ligands on a surface of the gold nanocluster includes reacting a mixture of a gold-containing compound, an alkyl alcohol, and a thiol compound.

Abstract: The cavity of the invention has a pumping source, a ring cavity, a planar convex lens, an optical gain medium, and/or a nonlinear medium. The laser cavity is formed by two mirrors with the same curvature. The curving surfaces of the two mirrors are coupled by a manner of face to face, whereby a space is defined as the ring cavity. The planar-convex lens is located between the pump beam and the ring cavity to work together with the two mirrors of the ring cavity to focus the pump beam. The pumping light enters the ring cavity at a desired distance of d mm from the mirror axis. The laser light also enters the ring cavity in a propagating direction nearly parallel to the mirror axis. Due to the two curving surfaces of the two mirrors, the light beam is reflected back and forth to form the 3-D figure-“8” light path. The optical gain medium and the nonlinear medium are located between the two mirrors on the light path.

Abstract: The invention is a frequency stabilized passive Q-switch laser, which has the advantages of small volume, simple structure, no need for high power voltage, etc. It has been a long time that timing jitter in conventional lasers is so large that they can not be applied to fields such as distance measurement. This invention utilizes an optical external modulation method to stabilize the repetition rate of the passive Q-switch, and thus to decrease its timing jitter. At the same time, the repetition rate of the Q-switch laser can be controlled by the same technology to meet various application needs.

Abstract: The present invention teaches an apparatus and method for commercial conversion of methane in the absence of a catalyst to higher hydrocarbons that are generally in short supply, e.g., butane, ethylene, propene, etc. The production of these higher molecular weight hydrocarbons aids in justifying the cost of the conversion process. The inventive conversion technique utilizes small amounts, generally 1% or less, of a low-cost initiator, plus air, which allows for the commercial viability of the process.