N. G. Basov and early works on semiconductor lasers at P. N. Lebedev Physics Institute

A survey is presented of works on creation and investigation of semiconductor lasers during 1957 – 1977 at the P. N. Lebedev Physics Institute. Many of these works were initiated by N. G. Basov, starting from pre-laser time, when N. G. Basov and his coworkers formulated principal conditions of creation of lasers on interband transitions in semiconductors. Main directions of further works were diode lasers based on various materials and structures, their characteristics of output power, high-speed operation and reliability.