The Russian Federation’s 2009 National Award in Science and Technology is conferred to Nikolai Vinokurov for his achievements in developing and creating the free electron lasers
Nikolai Vinokurov was born on June 19, 1952 in Novosibirsk. He is a professor and laboratory director at the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Mr Vinokurov is a well-known specialist in physics and free electron laser (FEL) technology, as well as the author of 180 scientific articles. Many of his FEL designs have remained significantly more advanced than similar studies abroad.
Mr Vinokurov’s name (along with that of Alexander Skrinsky) is associated with the invention of a free electron laser modification called an optical klystron. The first optical klystron was built under his guidance, and now, all FELs operating on electronic storage devices throughout the world are based on the optical klystron scheme.
Nikolai Vinokurov was the first to suggest and implement original technical solutions that are now widely used for undulators. In 1988, he carried out a cycle of theoretical and experimental studies that allowed for the very first creation of an FEL that operated in the ultraviolet region.
A unique device was designed under Mr Vinokurov’s leadership at the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics: a terahertz radiation generator with tunable wavelength. This opened a wide range of possibilities for conducting pioneering research in the terahertz region on various biological objects and nano-objects, as well as for studying various physical, photochemical, and biochemical processes.
Nikolai Vinokurov has participated in the development and implementation of many projects abroad. He led projects to design lasers for the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute and to build an original undulator for Duke University, USA, as well as other undulators.
The method proposed by Mr Vinokurov was applied in the world’s first x-ray FEL in Stanford, USA, whose successful launch in 2009 was largely achieved thanks to the high quality undulators developed with Nikolai Vinokurov’s participation.
Mr Vinokurov’s contribution to the creation of powerful FELs operating in the ranges from the terahertz to the x-ray allows for the development of the most advanced infrastructure for promising scientific and applied research.