Basov, Nikolai Gennadiyevich

Basov, Nikolai Gennadiyevich nyĭkəlīˈ gĕnäˈdēyĕˌvĭch bäˈsəf [key], 1922–2001, Russian physicist and educator, b. Usman. He worked with A. M. Prokhorov to develop a technique for amplifying microwave signals in spectroscopic experiments, ultimately leading to the construction of a maser (1952). For this fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics Basov shared the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics with Prokhorov and C. H. Townes. Basov taught at the Lebedev Institute of Physics and at the Moscow Institute of Physical Engineers, and also served in the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (1982–1989). He was the head of the laboratory of quantum radiophysics at the Lebedev at the time of his death.

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