IMAGING & SPECTROSCOPY

The Biological Imaging Facility is a core microscope imaging lab at the University of California Berkeley.

The BIF specializes in Widefield, Confocal, Deconvolution and Super-Resolution fluorescence microscopy (SIM, PALM, TIRF). The Zeiss Elyra SIM microscope is up and running. The Live-Cell AxioObserver Z1 system has been updated. It now has an environmental chamber and Zeiss' Definite Focus. It is ready for use.

The Computational Imaging Lab is located at the University of California, Berkeley. The CIL has an LED array microscope, Real-time multi-mode microscope system, Phase Imaging, Coherence engineering – phase space/statistical optics – light fields, Nonlinear imaging, Nonlinear amplification of weak intensity signals. Expertise in optics, signal processing and computer science, with broad applications in bioimaging, defense, physical science and industrial inspection.

The Advanced Light Source (ALS), a third-generation synchrotron and national user facilit,y is located at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.


The ALS produces light in the x-ray region of the electromagnetic spectrum that is one billion times brighter than the sun. This extraordinary tool offers unprecedented opportunities for state-of-the art research in materials science, biology, chemistry, physics, and the environmental sciences.

Ongoing research topics and techniques include

  • probing the the electronic structure of matter,
  • semiconductors,
  • magnetic materials,
  • 3D-biological imaging,
  • protein crystallography,
  • ozone photochemistry,
  • x-ray microscopy of biological samples,
  • chemical reaction dynamics,
  • atomic and molecular physics,
  • optics testing.

The Imaging Technology Group (ITG) is housed in the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Visualization Laboratory
The Visualization Laboratory resources support a wide variety of projects for research including: 2D/3D/4D image analysis and quantification, scientific visualization, ultra-high speed video, macro-photography, macro-video, video production, 3D animation, high-resolution 2D scanning, 3D object scanning, research presentation, publication graphics, and additional capabilities in support of imaging.

Microscopy Suite
Instruments in the facility include dissecting, stereology, fluorescence, confocal, transmission electron, environmental scanning electron, atomic force and near field scanning optical microscopes, and micro- and nano-XCT. Various supporting facilities include a wet lab and a library of books and small equipment available for checkout. Ancillary equipment housed in the supporting facilities includes an ultramicrotome, a carbon evaporator, a sputter coater, a fiber optic puller, and a critical point dryer. Consult the equipment pages for detailed information. Research staff are on hand to teach and aid each user in accomplishing his or her scientific goals within the Microscopy Suite.

The National Center for X-ray Tomography at the University of California Berkeley develops novel imaging technologies for biological and biomedical research. In particular, NCXT staff and collaborators are spearheading the development of soft x-ray tomography as a new tool for visualizing cells. A major part of this development has been the design, construction and now operation of XM-2, the world's first soft x-ray microscope for life science research. Located at the Advanced Light Source of.

Located in the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Biophotonics Imaging Laboratory is dedicated to the development of novel optical biomedical imaging techniques.


Optical Coherence Tomography Laboratory

  • OCT system utilizing a broadband titanium : sapphire laser source, operating at 800 nm wavelength. This system is capable of time-domain OCT, spectral domain OCT, and magneto-motive OCT (MM-OCT) imaging.
  • Polarization-sensitive OCT system (PS-OCT) operating at 1300 nm wavelength.


Nonlinear Microscopy Laboratory

  • Nonlinear Interferometric Vibrational Imaging (NIVI) system.
  • Integrated Microscope, providing structural and functional imaging using Optical Coherence Microscopy (OCM) and Multi-Photon Microscopy (MPM) techniques.

The Quantitative Light Imaging Laboratory is located in the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 


The QIL specialized in novel optical methods based on light scattering, interferometry, and microscopy, to image cells and tissues quantitatively and with nanoscale sensitivity applied to both basic science (e.g., cell dynamics, cell growth, intracellular transport, membrane fluctuations, tissue optics) and clinical applications

The Molecular Imaging Center (MIC) is a core microscopy facility managed by the Cancer Research Laboratory.

The MIC is a state-of-the-art light microscopy facility specializing in live cell and live whole specimen imaging, confocal microscopy, multi-photon imaging, fluorescent lifetime imaging (FLIM), super resolution, light-sheet microscopy, spinning disk confocal microscopy, and equipment for optogenetic studies.

More information, including reservation calendars, can be found on the MIC iLabs page.

The Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory (MRL) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign fosters interdisciplinary research at the forefront of materials science. The MRL-CMM Laser and Spectroscopy Facility (LSF) is part of the MRL Central Research Facilities, and as such, is a user-oriented and user-friendly facility that provides the modern photon-based analytical capabilities essential to today's materials science. The LSF emphasizes the study of optical properties of materials and interfaces, and its relation to microstructural and microchemical composition, phase transitions, crystalline, electronic and defect structure of materials, surfaces and interfaces. The LSF is a collaborative research center open to researchers from universities, government laboratories, and industry, national and international. 

The Life Sciences Collaborative Access Team (LS-CAT) is a high-energy third generation insertion device synchrotron source located at Argonne National Labs with the capability of conducting macromolecular crystallography, small angle scattering and in vivo metabolite profiling (i.e. Bio-Nanoprobe) experiments. Access is available through the Roy J Carver Biotechnology Center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

The UCB Proteomics/Mass Spectrometry Laboratory (P/MSL), affiliated with QB3 at the University of California Berkeley provide proteomics services including a “wet” biochemistry area for protein sample preparation and room for expansion of our array of mass spectrometers. The P/MSL has ion trap mass spectrometers equipped for LC-nanoelectrospray experiments including two Thermo LTQ XL linear ion trap mass spectrometers, (one of which is equipped for ETD fragmentation) and a Thermo Discovery Orbitrap mass spectrometer for proteomics applications that demand high mass accuracy.

The goal of the Computational Crystallography Initiative (CCI) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has been to develop new computational algorithms and tools for structural biology, in particular crystallography. This has led to the Phenix software for automated macromolecular crystallography, new tools for neutron crystallography, and methods for automated diffraction data analysis.

The Computational Crystallography Initiative

Advanced Biological and Environmental X-Ray Spectroscopy (ABEX), located at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab's Advanced Light Source, is a DOE OBER funded User Facility for X-ray spectroscopic characterization of complex biological and environmental systems using these tools:

  • Soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy
  • X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) spectroscopy
  • Novel high resolution X-ray fluorescence detectors
  • New and efficient sample handing techniques for soft x-ray spectroscopy of sensitive biological materials
  • Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy
  • Infrared spectroscopy
  • Resonance Raman spectroscopy
  • Wet biochemistry laboratory, including an anaerobic glove box.

The National Center for Electron Microscopy (NCEM) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory features cutting-edge instrumentation, techniques and expertise required for exceptionally high-resolution imaging and analytical characterization of a broad array of materials.  NCEM’s focus and major impact is in the following areas of research:

  • Defects and deformation
  • Mechanisms and kinetics of phase transformations in materials
  • Nanostructured materials
  • Surfaces, interfaces and thin films
  • Microelectronics materials and devices

The National Center for Electron Microscopy

The Berkeley Center for Structural Biology operates five protein crystallography beamlines at the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The vision is to provide state-of-the-art beamlines and outstanding service for crystallographers around the world, enabling structure solution on even the most complex biological systems.