Imaging and Microscopy Facility

female student in front of her laptop looking at presentation

An optical microscope on the left with a laser beam passing through the stage and a monitor with fluorescent image on the right.

The Imaging and Microscopy Facility hosts optical, confocal, scanning and transmission electron microscopes and equipment for preparing specimens for examination.

Researchers in the physical and biological sciences, as well as engineers, use the lab, which has a particular focus on nanotechnology. In 2016, the lab added a new Zeiss scanning electron microscope (SEM), the first of its kind installed in the United States. In 2017, the facility added a Zeiss LSM 880, a state-of-the-art laser scanning confocal microscope that can be used as a stand-alone piece of equipment or in conjunction with the Zeiss SEM.

Student and faculty researchers find a range of materials characterization techniques, including advanced imaging, elemental analysis and structure determination and can use or be trained in the use of electron microscopes.

For more information about the facility, contact Laboratory Manager Kennedy Nguyen at knguyen65@ucmerced.edu.

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