Boris Boyko Soviet and Belarusian physicist Date of Birth: 06.08.1923 Country: Belarus

1. Biography of Boris Boyko
2. Early Life and Education
3. Scientific Achievements
4. Contributions to the Study of Matter in Strong Magnetic Fields

Biography of Boris Boyko

Boris Boyko was a Soviet and Belarusian physicist, academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (1974; corresponding member since 1969), Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (1965), Professor (1976). He was an Honored Scientist of the Byelorussian SSR (1978).

Early Life and Education

Boyko was born in the village of Khodorovka (Goretsky District, Mogilev Region) in a family of agronomist. In 1941, he graduated from the Special High School of the Air Force in Minsk, and in 1944, he completed his training at the Bataysk School of Fighter Aviation. Until 1946, he served in the Soviet Air Force and participated in the Great Patriotic War. He then entered the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of Belarusian State University, which he graduated from in 1951, and was sent to work at the Physics and Technical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Byelorussian SSR. In 1958, Boyko transferred to the Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Byelorussian SSR. In 1963, he defended his candidate dissertation on the topic "Polarization-optical studies of viscous flow processes," the results of which were so significant that he immediately received a doctoral degree. In 1968, Boyko organized the Laboratory of Optical Electronics at the institute and in 1975 assumed the position of director of the Institute of Solid State Physics and Semiconductors of the Academy of Sciences of Belarus, which he held until 1993. Later, he became an honorary director of this institution. Boyko supervised the preparation of 14 candidates and 1 doctor of sciences, authored 15 inventions and more than 200 scientific papers.

Scientific Achievements

Boyko's scientific works are dedicated to physical optics, quantum electronics, and continuum mechanics. In his early works, he examined the processes of metal processing at high pressures and their deformation. He developed the foundations (both experimental and theoretical) of a new polarization-optical method for studying viscous flow processes in solids, based on the phenomenon of forced optical anisotropy during mechanical deformation. Since 1963, Boyko shifted his focus to the development of laser themes. Several of his works are devoted to the study of light reflection and refraction effects at the interface of two media, one of which is absorptive, amplifying, or nonlinear. In particular, he predicted the phenomenon of light amplification upon reflection from an amplifying medium, which was later used for the creation of reflection lasers. Another important effect that was discovered is optical hysteresis during the reflection of powerful radiation from a positively nonlinear medium, which can be used to control laser beams. His work in this direction was awarded the State Prize of the Byelorussian SSR in 1990. Under Boyko's guidance, a number of new lasers and optical devices were created, including ruby lasers, reflection-amplifying dye lasers, garnet and neodymium glass lasers with two-dimensional and three-dimensional beam paths in the active medium, as well as new types of optical resonators and quality modulators, mirrors, polarizers, and other devices. These developments were based on a deep analysis of the processes influencing the efficiency of laser operation and the characteristics of laser radiation.

Contributions to the Study of Matter in Strong Magnetic Fields

A separate group of Boyko's works is related to the study of substance properties in strong magnetic fields. In 1970, he created for the first time a frequency pulsed ruby laser controlled by a magnetic field, which was awarded the Golden Medal of the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy of the USSR. Subsequently, in experiments using magnetic fields up to a million oersteds, the influence of a magnetic field on the quantum output of luminescence in condensed media (ruby crystals, rare-earth anti-Stokes luminescent materials) was discovered.