Today the 37th scientific conference of the ISSP UL begins and it is dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the Laboratory of Problems of Semiconductor Physics (LPSP). The LPSP was established in 1960 under the leadership of Ilmārs Vītols (pictures 1 and 2), but the final decision on the establishment of the LPSP of the State University of Latvia (SUL) was made by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union together with the USSR’s Council of Ministers on January 24, 1961. This laboratory, together with the Laboratory of Ferro- and Piezoelectric Physics Problems (LFPPP) established in 1968 under the leadership of Voldemārs Fricbergs, was the beginning of the institute, which we know today as the Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia.
In his 2016 book “From the Institute of Physics of the University of Latvia (1919) to the Institute of Solid State Physics (1978)” senior researcher of the Radiation Physics Laboratory of our institute Dr. honoris causa Jānis Jansons explains that at the time several unsuccessful attempts were made (in 1957 and in 1959) to establish a laboratory for spectroscopy problems at the SUL. The new dean of the SUL Faculty of Physics and Mathematics (FPM) O. Šmits (picture 1) and his colleagues learned that the construction of a secret company No 233 is being started in Riga as a strategic object intended for the development and manufacture of semiconductor devices. This was of great interest to the physicists of the Department of Experimental Physics (DEP), as some of them worked with the problems of semiconductor physics and taught students in this field. After the meeting with director of the new company, it became clear that the research topics of the planned SUL Spectroscopy Problem Laboratory and the equipment required for its work are very similar to the tasks and equipment that will have to be solved and purchased by the research laboratory at the company No 233. The establishment and operation of the company No 233 required putting much more emphasis on the semiconductor research. As a result, it was decided that establishment of a LPSP at SUL and not a spectroscopy laboratory is necessary.
Intensive work began on the establishment of the LPSP. Premises to the new laboratory were allocated in the main building of the SUL. The premises had to be renovated to suit the needs of the laboratory. The repairs were carried out mainly by the people from the laboratory under the supervision of V. Zīraps.
The formation of the LPSP began. The Radio Electronics group was the first established as part of the laboratory. Mechanical workshops began to form. I. Vītols had noticed that the laboratories of the Riga Polytechnical Institute’s Department of Physics were very successfully managed by engineer Olģerts Āboliņš (picture 3), and persuaded him to come to work at LPSP as a chief engineer. This was a very significant benefit, because O. Āboliņš soon formed a wide-profile Electromechanical group. Under his leadership, experts of the mechanical workshop Arvīds Skuja, Jēkabs Lūsis, Ernestu Pūce and others together with experts of radio electronics, created various measuring equipment for laboratory groups and performed contract work for other institutions.
By 1961, the formation of the LPSP had progressed so far that it was possible to prepare for the opening of the first stage of the laboratory. I. Vītols and his colleagues had decided to celebrate it with an exhibition of achievements of LPSP to promote semiconductor physics and its possibilities. Semiconductor Physics Problems Laboratory was opened on January 5, 1962 at noon in a solemn meeting with the management of SUL, representatives of the Ministry of Education and the press present.
As the number of scientific staff members and students was increasing, soon enough the premises became too small and more space was needed. It was proposed to build a separate building for both LPSP and LFPPP, as well as for the Semiconductor Physics Department of SUL. The idea of new and suitable premises for physics laboratories and auditoriums for FFM staff has existed since the end of the Second World War. Initially, several other places in Riga were considered, but the construction never began. The search ended with the opportunity to get a plot of land in Ķengarags by the Daugava River. It was far enough from the transport arteries and the adjacent net weaving factory did not cause significant ground vibrations and other disturbances. And so, construction at Ķengaraga Street 8 took place from 1971 to 1974. In 1975, the new building on the bank of Daugava housed the laboratories of the SUL’s FFM as well as PFPL and SPFPL. By merging the two laboratories, on February 24, 1978, the newly established ISSP UL or at that time - P. Stučka Solid State Physics Scientific Research Institute of State University of Latvia was opened.
