Nikolay Basov

 ( 1922 Births ) 

In the early 1950s Basov and Prokhorov developed theoretical grounds for creation of a molecular oscillator and constructed such an oscillator based on ammonia. Later this oscillator became known as maser. They also proposed a method for the production of population inversion 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, which he built with collaborators in 1963. Basov with co-workers proposed Disk laser in 1966 and realized experimentally the thin disk active mirror semiconductor lasers. He developed with colleaguaes the first nonlinear theory of coherent addition of laser sets. N.G.Basov encouraged the researchers in nonlinear optics in Lebedev Institute who discovered the optical phase conjugation. Together with Lebedev Institute researchers he realized the robust method of the phase-locking of laser arrays via optical phase conjugation in Stimulated Brillouin scattering.

Basov's contributions to the development of the laser and maser, which won him the Nobel Prize 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 and was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery.