Nikolay Gennadiyevich Basov (russian: Никола́й Генна́диевич Ба́сов; 14 December 1922 – 1 July 2001) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

and educator. For his fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics that led to the development of

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fi ...

and

maser A maser (, an acronym for microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) is a device that produces coherent electromagnetic waves through amplification by stimulated emission. The first maser was built by Charles H. Townes, Ja ...

, Basov shared the 1964

Nobel Prize in Physics ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...

with

Alexander Prokhorov Alexander Mikhailovich Prokhorov (born Alexander Michael Prochoroff, russian: Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Про́хоров; 11 July 1916 – 8 January 2002) was an Australian-born Soviet-Russian physicist known ...

and

Charles Hard Townes Charles Hard Townes (July 28, 1915 – January 27, 2015) was an American physicist. Townes worked on the theory and application of the maser, for which he obtained the fundamental patent, and other work in quantum electronics associated wi ...

."Basov Nikolay Gennadiyevich"

Early life

Basov was born in the town Usman, now in

Lipetsk Oblast Lipetsk Oblast (russian: Липецкая область, Lipetskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Lipetsk. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 1,173,513. Geography Lipe ...

in 1922. He finished school in 1941 in

Voronezh Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on ...

, and was later called for military service at

Kuibyshev Military Medical Academy Russia has a number of military academies of different specialties. This article primarily lists institutions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation rather than those of the Soviet Armed Forces. Russian institutions designated as an "acad ...

. In 1943 he left the academy and served in the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

participating in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

with the

1st Ukrainian Front The 1st Ukrainian Front ( Russian: Пéрвый Украи́нский фронт), previously the Voronezh Front ( Russian: Воронежский Фронт) was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to ...

Professional career

Basov graduated from Moscow Engineering Physics Institute (MEPhI) in 1950. He then held a professorship at MEPhI and also worked in the

Lebedev Physical Institute The Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (LPI RAS or just LPI) (in russian: Физи́ческий институ́т имени П.Н.Ле́бедева Российской академии наук (ФИАН)), situated ...

(LPI), where he defended a dissertation for the ''

Candidate of Sciences Candidate of Sciences (russian: кандидат наук, translit=kandidat nauk) is the first of two doctoral level scientific degrees in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. It is formally classified as UNESCO's ISCED level 8, "d ...

'' degree (equivalent to PhD) in 1953 and a dissertation for the ''

Doctor of Sciences Doctor of Sciences ( rus, доктор наук, p=ˈdoktər nɐˈuk, abbreviated д-р наук or д. н.; uk, доктор наук; bg, доктор на науките; be, доктар навук) is a higher doctoral degree in the Russi ...

'' degree in 1956. Basov was the Director of the LPI in 1973–1988. He was elected as corresponding member of the

USSR Academy of Sciences The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991, uniting the country's leading scientists, subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (until 1946 ...

(

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across ...

since 1991) in 1962 and Full Member of the Academy in 1966. In 1967, he was elected a Member of the Presidium of the Academy (1967—1990), and since 1990 he was the councillor of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In 1971 he was elected a Member of the

German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founde ...

. He was Honorary President and Member of the International Academy of Science, Munich. He was the head of the laboratory of quantum radiophysics at the LPI until his death in 2001. In the early 1950s Basov and Prokhorov developed theoretical grounds for creation of a molecular oscillator and constructed such an oscillator based on

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous wa ...

. Later this oscillator became known as

. They also proposed a method for the production of

population inversion In science, specifically statistical mechanics, a population inversion occurs while a system (such as a group of atoms or molecules) exists in a state in which more members of the system are in higher, excited states than in lower, unexcited energy ...

using inhomogeneous electric and magnetic fields. Their results were presented at a national conference in 1952 and published in 1954. Basov then proceeded to the development of laser, an analogous generator of coherent light. In 1955 he designed a three-level laser, and in 1959 suggested constructing a

semiconductor laser The laser diode chip removed and placed on the eye of a needle for scale A laser diode (LD, also injection laser diode or ILD, or diode laser) is a semiconductor device similar to a light-emitting diode in which a diode pumped directly with e ...

, which he built with collaborators in 1963. Basov's contributions to the development of the laser and maser, which won him the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

in 1964, also led to new missile defense initiatives."Soviet ballistic missile defense and the Western alliance"
David Scott Yost. Harvard University Press, 1988. , . p. 58 He died on 1 July, 2001 at

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

and was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery.

Politics

He entered politics in 1951 and became a member of parliament (the

Soviet of the Union The Soviet of the Union (russian: Сове́т Сою́за - ''Sovet Soyuza'') was the lower chamber of the Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, elected on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballo ...

of the Supreme Soviet) in 1974."A century of Nobel Prizes recipients: chemistry, physics, and medicine"
Francis Leroy. CRC Press, 2003. , . p. 174-175 Following U.S. President Ronald Reagan's speech on SDI in 1983, Basov signed a letter along with other Soviet scientists condemning the initiative, which was published in the New York Times."The strategic defence initiative: US policy and the Soviet Union"
Mira Duric. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2003. , . p. 43-45 In 1985 he declared the Soviet Union was capable of matching SDI proposals made by the U.S.

Books

*N. G. Basov, K. A. Brueckner (Editor-in-Chief), S. W. Haan, C. Yamanaka. ''Inertial Confinement Fusion'', 1992, Research Trends in Physics Series published by the American Institute of Physics Press (presentl
Springer
New York). . *V. Stefan and N. G. Basov (Editors). ''Semiconductor Science and Technology'', Volume 1.

Semiconductor A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical conductivity value falling between that of a conductor, such as copper, and an insulator, such as glass. Its resistivity falls as its temperature rises; metals behave in the opposite way. ...

Lasers A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...

. (Stefan University Press Series on Frontiers in Science and Technology) (Paperback), 1999. . *V. Stefan and N. G. Basov (Editors). ''Semiconductor Science and Technology'', Volume 2:

Quantum Dots Quantum dots (QDs) are semiconductor particles a few nanometres in size, having optical and electronic properties that differ from those of larger particles as a result of quantum mechanics. They are a central topic in nanotechnology. When the ...

and Quantum Wells. (Stefan University Press Series on Frontiers in Science and Technology) (Paperback), 1999. .

Awards and honours

Nicolay Basov and Aleksandr Prokhorov with wives 1964

* Lenin Prize (1959) *

(1964, with the pioneering work done in the field of quantum electronics) * Hero of Socialist Labour — twice (1969, 1982) * Gold Medal of the

Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences The Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (Czech: ''Československá akademie věd'', Slovak: ''Česko-slovenská akadémia vied'') was established in 1953 to be the scientific center for Czechoslovakia. It was succeeded by the Czech Academy of Science ...

(1975) * A. Volta Gold Medal (1977) *

Kalinga Prize The Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science is an award given by UNESCO for exceptional skill in presenting scientific ideas to lay people. It was created in 1952, following a donation from Biju Patnaik, Founder President of the Kalinga ...

(1986) *

USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, Gosudarstvennaya premiya SSSR) was the Soviet Union's state honor. It was established on 9 September 1966. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, t ...

(1989) * Lomonosov Grand Gold Medal,

Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

(1990) *

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration ...

– five times *

Order of Merit for the Fatherland Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

, 2nd class *

Order of the Patriotic War The Order of the Patriotic War (russian: Орден Отечественной войны, Orden Otechestvennoy voiny) is a Soviet military decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to partisa ...

, 2nd class

References

External links

Basov's grave
* including the Nobel Lecture, 11 December 1964 ''Semiconductor Lasers''
Oral History interview transcript with Nikolay Basov on 14 September 1984, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Basov, Nicolay 1922 births 2001 deaths People from Usman, Russia Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Full Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Foreign Members of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Foreign Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy Heroes of Socialist Labour Lenin Prize winners Nobel laureates in Physics Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class Soviet Nobel laureates Recipients of the USSR State Prize Recipients of the Order of Lenin Soviet physicists Optical physicists Laser researchers Soviet inventors Soviet military personnel of World War II Spectroscopists Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Recipients of the Lomonosov Gold Medal Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery Members of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina Moscow Engineering Physics Institute alumni Members of the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin Kalinga Prize recipients