“Endless possibilities”: Ilya Rodionov shares FMN Laboratory plans for 2020

- Ilya, could you please explain the role and importance of nanophotonics? Why does Russia need to develop this scientific field?

- Over the past decades, electronics has been developing very rapidly. The carrier in these devices are electrons. However, an electron is inherently limited. Photonics gives us the opportunity to work with another storage medium – a photon. Light is the fastest thing we have, and photons are the most advanced carriers known to date. Therefore, we consider everything related to nanophotonics extremely promising. These are new types of computing devices, new biological devices, and a whole fan of applied areas.

- You have already mentioned “lab-on-a-chip” devices. What is that? Why is it a promising technology?

- “Lab-on-a-chip” is an attempt to change the basis of work in the field of biomedical analysis. For example, to get a blood test today, we need to go to the laboratory and take a sample. Then for some time - several hours or several days - we are waiting for the result. “Lab-on-a-chip” devices will allow us radically speeding up all these processes. We will be able to evaluate our physical state and several important biological indicators, like cholesterol, glucose and other in real time.

- What gadgets will we be using in near future? Which of them will replace the smart watches?

- If a quantum computer and “lab-on-a-chip” devices are available, our smart watches will turn into a working data center with a capacity greater than any supercomputer on earth now. Moreover, it will be just the beginning.

Full interview available here (Russian version only).