On May 24, Saratov University opened the 9th All-Russian Research School-Seminar titled The Interaction of Microwave, Terahertz, and Optical Radiation with Semiconductor Micro- and Nanostructures, Metamaterials, and Biological Objects. The forum is dedicated to the 175th anniversary of the birth of Pavel Yablochkov, an outstanding Russian inventor in electrical engineering.

The school is organised by the regional Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Energy, and Saratov University.

The meeting was opened by Professor of the Department of Solid Body Physics Alexander Skripal. ‘This is the ninth research meeting, which has brought together the participants from Moscow, Saratov, Samara, Kazan, Volgograd, and other cities. The topic of today's forum is very familiar to us, because the electronic industry is developing in our region, and research in this area contributes to setting the production process to a new level,’ he noted in his opening speech. Also, the professor read a greeting from the Deputy Chair of the regional Government, Minister of Education Мikhail Orlov.

The Vice-Rector for Administrative Activities and Personnel Management Andrei Stalmakhov congratulated the audience on the opening of the school-seminar. He said that he himself was a graduate of the Faculty of Physics and listened to lectures by the first Chair of the Department of Solid Body Physics, Professor Zinaida Kiryashkina, whose research on the creation of semiconductor microwave detectors is of great importance.

The regional Minister of Energy Andrei Arkhipov emphasised the special status of the Priority 2030 programme to support and develop Russian universities and Saratov University in particular. ‘The state sets new tasks for us and dictates new challenges. In this regard, it is extremely important to develop high technologies, especially in micro- and nanoelectronics, radar systems, and medical equipment. It is gratifying that not only theoreticians but also practitioners who present their innovative developments to us are participating in the conference,’ the minister noted.

The Director of the Institute of Physics Sergei Venig addressed the audience at the event. ‘Today we are holding the ninth research seminar. It is not an anniversary yet, but it is already quite a bit of history. The traditions that originated at the very beginning of the forum have been preserved and continued. All the best that was done at the Faculty of Physics, the Faculty of Nonlinear Processes, and the Faculty of Nano- and Biomedical Technologies are continued today at the Institute of Physics. It is important that our seminar is still in demand by young scientists and leading specialists in micro- and nanoelectronics.’

The Director of the College of Radioelectronics Oksana Breus marked that the educational institution had a great honour to bear the name of such an outstanding scientist and inventor as Pavel Yablochkov.

‘Saratov Region gave the world a great electrical inventor who significantly influenced the use of electricity, without which it is impossible to imagine modern life. Our students are just starting to take their first steps in science but every year they will be more and more result-oriented,’ she said.

As part of the Plenary Session, a report was made by the Chair of the Department, the Institute of Physics, Valerii Anikin. Titled The World Is Indebted to Our Compatriot, It named the outstanding inventions developed by Pavel Yablochkov, the main of which is an arc lamp, better known as the “Yablochkov candle”.

The Yablochkov candle consisted of two coal blocks separated by an inert material. An arc made of thin wire or carbon paste was fixed at the upper end. All this was fixed vertically on an insulated base. When the candle was connected to a current source, the safety wire at the end burned out, setting the arc on fire. The arc began to burn, gradually “eating” the electrodes and the separating gypsum layer. Candles lasted for two hours. The first country where Yablochkov's electric light was put into practice was France. Following Paris, candles began to illuminate London, Berlin, Rome, Vienna, San Francisco, Rio de Janeiro, Delhi, Calcutta, and other cities.

Honourary President of NT-MDT-Spectral Instruments, Professor Victor Bykov, in his online report, spoke about the modern potential of scanning probe microscopy.

An SSTU Professor Dmitrii Zimnyakov commented on the fluorescence features of the nanostructured media during intensive laser pumping.

After that, the conference continued in sessions, where the results of advanced research were presented, and samples of the latest instruments and devices were demonstrated. Traditionally, CEOs of enterprises and chief designers participate in the school being its peculiarity.

The forum takes place on May 24–25. The programme can be found here.