The Laboratory for Biological Ultrastructure

Facility Location

The Laboratory for Biological Ultrastructure,
University of Maryland, Department of Biology, Room 0240,
College Park, MD 20740

Brief Mission

The mission of the Laboratory is to provide a high quality, well equipped central biological electron imaging facility containing staff and a full complement of equipment for the successful preparation and imaging of a wide variety of biological sample types.     

The Laboratory will also serve as a training venue for faculty, post doctoral, graduate and undergraduate students, and outside investigators in the various techniques of biological electron microscopy.

Hours of Operation

The hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM until 5:30 PM

Services and Technologies Offered

• Biological specimen preparation through resin embedding for TEM
• Biological specimen preparation through critical point drying for SEM
• Negative staining of biological or materials sample for TEM
• Ultramicrotomy of embedded samples (ultrathin & semi-thin sections for TEM)
• Sample coating via sputtering or vacuum evaporation
• Transmission electron microscopy (20-120KV)
• Scanning electron microscopy (conventional or variable pressure)
• Scanning electron microscopy (field emission)
• Training in selected techniques

Equipment Available

• Hitachi HT7700 Transmission Electron Microscope
• Zeiss 10 CA Transmission Electron Microscope
• AMRAY 1820D Scanning Electron Microscope (CSEM)
• Hitachi S-4700 Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) with transmitted electron detector
• Hitachi SU3500 Variable Pressure Scanning Electron Microscope (VPSEM)
• EDAX Genesis EDS System for elemental microanalysis of samples (on AMRAY 1820D)
• Backscattered Electron Detectors on both SEMs
• Denton DCP-1 Critical Point Dryer
• Pearse-Edwards Tissue Dryer
• Reichert (2), Leica U6, LKB (1) and Sorvall ultramicrotomes for conventional thin sectioning
• Denton Vacuum Evaporators (2)
• Balzers MED 010 Deposition System
• Emitech K575 Sputter Coater
• Leica AFS Freeze Substitution System
• Leica KF80 Cryofixation System
• Zeiss Photomicroscope (2) with BF, phase and Nomarski optics

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