\tNikolai Gennadievich Basov
Basov, Nikolai Gennadievich (1922-2001) was a Russian physicist who helped invent and develop laser technology and the maser. In 1964, he shared the Nobel Prize in physics with his teacher and fellow Russian Alexander Mikhailovich Prokhorov and American Charles Hard Townes, who independently made the same discovery. The three scientists each generated an intense beam of pure microwave radiation called the maser.
Basov was born on Dec. 14, 1922, in the village of Usman near Voronezh, Russia. He attended the local schools in Vorenezh. In 1941, he was called into military service and trained as a medical assistant. After being discharged in 1945, he entered the Moscow Institute of Physical Engineers, where he studied experimental and theoretical physics. Five years later, he received his candidate's degree (master's degree) and continued his education at the Lebedev Physical Institute. In 1956, he received his doctorate in physico-mathematical sciences.
While working on his doctorate, Basov started research on the “molecular generator,” which was the amplification device that became known as the maser (microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation). In 1959, Basov received the Lenin Prize along with Prochorov for their inquiry leading to the creation of the molecular oscillators and paramagnetic amplifiers. In 1963, Basov worked in the field of optoelectronics and became a professor at the Moscow Engineering and Physics Institute. Under the guidance of Basov in 1970, a chemical laser was developed
In 1982, along with 97 other Nobel Prize winers, Basov called for a freeze on the development of nuclear weapons. In 2001, Basov other scientists implored Russia's president Vladimir Putin, to authorize a bill allowing Russia to import nuclear waste, discounting its hazards.
In 1950, Basov married Ksenia Tikhonovna Nasarova. They had two sons. He died July 2, 2001.