The Laboratory of Coherent Optics was founded in 1976 by Doctor of Phys. and Math. Sciences Alexander Popov. Currently, it is headed by Doctor of Phys. and Math. Sciences Prof. Vasily Arkhipkin

The main scientific directions of the Laboratory research activity are:

• optical and nonlinear-optical phenomena in atomic, molecular, crystalline media, micro- and nanostructured materials; quantum interference phenomena and controlling optical characteristics of matter and light;
• optical, nonlinear-optical and photochromic properties of fractal structured nanocomposites of a metal/dielectric type and of metal hydrosol;
• structure formation in nonequilibrium nanocrystalline and amorphic films

Inversionless amplification at transitions to the autoionizing state has been predicted. The ways of realization of controlling the pulse shape, recording, storage and readout of optical pulses using electromagnetically induced transparency have been found. For the first time, the conversion of laser radiation from IR and visible into UV and VUV in vapors of molecules with double-conjugated bonds has been experimentally realized. Acceleration (up to 108 times) of metal hydrosol aggregation under the effect of optical irradiation has been discovered and explained. Besides, the explanation of giant enhancement of local electromagnetic field in nanoaggregates based on the local anisotropy of environment has been made.

The Laboratory has held the International Workshop “Lasers and Applications”(Sayanogorsk, 1989) and two All-Union Workshops on resonant nonlinear optics (Krasnoyarsk, 1978; Divnogorsk, 1986). More than 20 Candidate and 4 Doctoral Theses have been defended by the Laboratory researchers.

The leading directions in the study of cluster media are related to optical properties of metal fractal clusters, the mechanisms of their photostimulated growth, the interrelation of their structure and optical properties, an elaboration of the methods of indirect control of aggregation state of a disperse phase in metal colloids, and elaboration of new kinds of optical materials for superdense record of information based on cluster media.

The most interesting and important results are reported in the following papers:

1. A.К. Popov Introduction into Nonlinear Spectroscopy, Novosibirsk, Nauka, 1983.
2. V.G.Arkhipkin, A.K.Popov. Nonlinear Light Conversion in Gases. Novosibirsk, Nauka, 1987.
3. S.V.Karpov, V.V.Slabko. Optical and Photo-physical Properties of Fractal Structured Metal Sols. Novosibirsk, Publishing House of SB RAS, 2003.
4. V.G.Arkhipkin, Yu.I.Heller. Radiation Amplification without Population Inversion at Transitions to Auotoionizing States. Physics Letters, v.98A, No.1-2, 12-15 (1983).
5. A.V.Butenko, S.V.Karpov, A.K.Popov, S.G.Rautian, V.V.Slabko et al. Nonlinear Optics of Metal Fractal Clusters. Z.Phys. D, v.17, 283-289 (1990).
6. V.G.Arkhipkin, I.V.Timofeev. Electromagnetically Induced Transparency and Controlling the Time Shape of Laser Pulses, Doklady Physics, Vol. 50, No. 4, 2005, pp. 165–168.