Tomsk Polytechnical University Gets Diploma For A Breakthrough In Physics

The Tomsk Polytechnical University in West Siberia has got a diploma for a discovery in one of the most conservative branches of science, physics. This diploma confirms the discovery of the phenomenon of introducing crystal-structure order by small doses of ionising radiation. Way back in the late 70s, scientists noticed appreciable deviations in the behaviour of crystals in irradiating them by small dozes of ionising radiation. These deviations differed from the generally accepted ideas in solid-state physics. In the beginning, at many conferences of different level the Tomsk University familiarised physicists with crystal behaviour. Later, results of their work were experimentally corroborated by specialists from the Semiconductor Physics Institute of the Siberian branch (Novosibirsk) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Kurchatov Atomic Energy Institute, and the crystallography and semiconductors institutes, based in Moscow. After their work was experimentally corroborated, Tomsk researchers filed papers, proving their priority in this area, for registration at the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences and the International Academy of Authors of Scientific Discoveries and Inventions. Examination of their materials continued for a year before the Tomsk University received documents confirming the priority of their invention. Applications of this discovery are ample - extension of the service life of equipment in nuclear reactors, development of methods of non-destructive control and removal of hydrogen from materials in gas and oil equipment. Noteworthy, it is the 173th diploma received by Russian scientists over the past ten years.