Valentin Alexandrovich Fabrikant (born 9.10.19) — Soviet physicist, a member of the USSR Academy of Pedagogical Sciences (1968). Born in Moscow. Graduated from Moscow University (1930). In 1930 — 50 he worked at the All-Union Electrotechnical Institute (head of a laboratory from 1932), in 1944—77 he was head of a department at the Moscow Power Engineering Institute, and from 1977 a professor.
His research concerned physical electronics and the optics of plasma. He developed (1937 — 39) a quantitative theory of the intensity of spectral lines in a low-temperature plasma. He established the role of the processes of stepwise electron excitation of atoms. He proposed the method of luminescent probes for studying the diffusion of photons in vapours and gases. In 1939 he showed that light could be amplified by stimulated emission in a plasma with a population inversion of the energy levels. In 1949, together with L. M. Biberman and N. G. Sushkin, he observed the diffraction of electrons passing one at a time. In 1951, together with M. M. Vudynsky and F. A. Butaeva, he formulated the principle of amplification of electromagnetic radiation on passing through media with an inverted population (the idea of the quantum amplifier). For the development of fluorescent lamps he was, together with others, awarded the USSR State Prize in 1951.
S. I. Vavilov Gold Medal (1965).