Optical Microscopy and Bioelectronics Development Laboratory

New discovery in Biology and Medicine is strongly driven by new possibilities to visualize the processes of life. To see new things, the SaraLab lab invents and custom builds new types of optical elements and imaging systems. Specific problems in Biology demand that we push technology to the limit in terms of both spatial and temporal resolution. We focus our work on harnessing the power of diffractive Fourier optics in microscopy. This involves design and hands-on nanofabrication of diffractive optics elements for simultaneous 3D imaging using Multifocus microscopy (Abrahamsson et al. Nat. Methods 2013) and super-resolution microscopy (Abrahamsson et al. BOE 2017).

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NSF funds UC Santa Cruz development of multifocus structured illumination microscope

The National Science Foundation has awarded UC Santa Cruz $700,000 for the development of a multifocus structured illumination microscope. Electrical and Computer Engineering Assistant Professor Sara Abrahamsson will lead the project.

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Summer Mentoring High School Students

See the article on Ph.D. student Julianas summer mentoring:

https://www.soe.ucsc.edu/news/graduate-student-juliana-hernandez-does-research-mentors-high-schoolers-saralab-project

Optical system being built

Designing Optics in UCSB Nanofab

We are also developing large volume 3D imaging systems to study the function of entire neural circuits in living animals using fluorescence indicators of neural activity. (See previous work in this field: Abrahamsson et al, 2016).

Ed & Gustav in NanofabDiffractive Optics Recipe

Nanofabrication of diffractive optics components by SaraLab Ph.D. Student Eduardo Hirata and Junior Specialist Gustav Pettersson at the beautiful UC Santa Barbara nanofabrication facility.