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Imaging Facility

The Imaging Facility currently houses state-of-art 300 kV cryo-TEM, 200kV Cs corrected S/TEM, 120kV TEM, Dual-beam SEM/FIB, Raman Microscope, and super-resolution STED microscope for advanced imaging of materials and biological samples. The facility follows a user-fee based model and is open to all users, both internal and external. The facility welcomes users from academia and industry, with individual rate structures for both.

The supported applications include data collection for single particle 3D reconstruction, S/TEM and SEM imaging, advanced FIB applications (e.g. patterning, site-specific cross-sectional imaging, 2D image stack, TEM lamella preparation), chemical analysis by Energy-dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS). The facility also has plunge freezers for cryo-EM specimen preparation, plasma cleaner for SEM samples and TEM grids cleaning, and coater for coating of carbon (thermal-evaporation), Gold and Platinum (sputter coating).

Complete the online application to become a user of this and other ASRC facilities.

Facility Details

Instrument Rates Effective on 01/01/2024

CUNY Internal rates ($/hour) External Academic rates ($/hour) Start-up Companies ($/hour) Industrial Companies ($/hour)
FEI TITAN THEMIS 200 KV TEM 78 84 210 350
FEI HELIOS NANOLAB 660 FIB-SEM 66 71 165 275
FEI HELIOS NANOLAB 660 SEM 45 49 120 200
FEI SPIRIT 120 KV TEM 35 38 120 200
LEICA TCS SP8 STED 3X 40 44 120 200
WITec Raman Microscope 25 28 75 125
Thermo Scientific Quattro ESEM 45 49 120 200
Leica EM ACE600 Coater 20 22 60 100
FEI Vitrobot (waived if imaging the prepared grids in the facility) 10 17 45 75

 

CUNY Internal Rate ($/day) External Academic Rate ($/day) Start-up Rate ($/day) Industrial Company Rate ($/day)
Halo 300 cryo-EM 400 550 1400 2500

Note: the above Halo cryo-EM daily rates are effective on 01/01/2024, and only applys to 3D structural analysis projects, including grids screening and data collection by users themselves. Please contact faciltiy staff if you need more information.

CUNY Internal Rate ($/grid) External Academic Rate ($/grid) Start-up Rate ($/grid) Industrial Company Rate ($/grid)
cryo-EM imaging 60 120 300 420

Note: the above cryo-EM imaging service rates are effective on 01/01/2024, and only apply to non-structural project, facility staff will do the imaging and provide 5-8 images per grid. Please contact faciltiy staff if you need more information.

Instrument Rates before 01/01/2024

Academic rates ($/hour) Start-up Companies ($/hour) Industrial Companies ($/hour)
FEI TITAN THEMIS 200 KV TEM 78 210 350
FEI HELIOS NANOLAB 660 FIB-SEM 66 165 275
FEI HELIOS NANOLAB 660 SEM 45 120 200
FEI SPIRIT 120 KV TEM 35 120 200
LEICA TCS SP8 STED 3X 40 120 200
WITec Raman Microscope 25 75 125
Leica EM ACE600 Coater 20 60 100
FEI Vitrobot (waived if imaging the prepared grids in the facility) 10 30 50

 

Academic Rate ($/day) Start-up Rate ($/day) Industrial Company Rate ($/day)
Halo 300 cryo-EM 400 1200 2000

Note: the above Halo cryo-EM daily rates are effective on 03/01/2022, valid for one year and only applys to 3D structural analysis projects, including grids screening and data collection by users themselves. Please contact faciltiy staff if you need more information.

CUNY Rate ($/grid) Non-CUNY Academic Rate ($/grid) Start-up Rate ($/grid) Industrial Company Rate ($/grid)
cryo-EM imaging 60 100 180 300

Note: the above cryo-EM imaging service rates are effective on 03/01/2022, valid for one year and only apply to non-structural project, facility staff will do the imaging and provide 5-8 images per grid. Please contact faciltiy staff if you need more information.

Materials Costs

Users are responsible for consumable materials. We supply standard materials, which Users have the option to purchase from facility. Due to uniqueness of each experiment we cannot guarantee to supply all materials to satisfy the needs of all Users.

Charge per unit
Cryo Grid Box $15
UltraAuFoil grid $50
Quantifoil or Cflat grid $30
Lacey or Holey grid $5
Ultrathin Carbon on Lacey grid $10
Continous Carbon grid $6
Small membrance box $6

Staff Service Charges

Optional staff assistance service is available for sample characterization using instruments within Imaging Facility. This service is limited to the availability of staff time and capability of the instruments. Users are responsible for sample preparation. The staff hourly rates are added to the instrument hourly rates (listed in tables above) when technical staff service is utilized.

  • Academic rate per hour: $60
  • Start-up companies rate per hour: $90
  • Industrial companies rate per hour: $120

Invoicing

PDF invoices will be emailed to PIs on the 15th of each calendar month.

Invoices can be sent to additional personnel or separated by account on request. Please contact Celeste Ayala to adjust your invoicing instructions.

Payment Options

For CUNY PIs with RF Accounts

CUNY PI’s wishing to pay their invoice using RF funds must provide the appropriate account information on the second page of the invoice. Payments can be split across RF accounts if desired.

Sign and return the invoice(s) via email to servicecenters@rfcuny.org or via fax to (212) 417-8567 for the funds to be transferred.

For other PIs 

If paying by check:

Sign and mail the invoice(s) along with check payment to:

Finance Department
Research Foundation of CUNY
230 West 41st Street, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10036

If paying by credit card:

Credit Card payments can be made online via the Research Foundation payment portal.

  1. Under Available Events, click: CUNY ASRC Imaging Facility Use – RC-20161004-6477
  2. In the pop-up window, click the radio button for Another Amount and enter the amount listed on the invoice
  3. Add to the cart and proceed with the credit card payment
  4. Important: Email your signed invoice to Erika Montes at Erika_Montes@rfcuny.org and indicate that you have paid via online credit card.

Tracking Your Charges

PI’s can utilize Badger to view accumulated charges at any time. Review the Badger Instructions for PIs for more information on accessing this information.

Scheduling Training

You must have completed all steps in the user onboarding process and have an active Badger account before scheduling training.

  • Contact Tong Wang (twang1@gc.cuny.edu) for training on the following instruments:
    • FEI Titan Halo 80-300 Cryo TEM
    • Leica STED
    • WITec Raman Microscope
  • Contact Sheng Zhang (szhang3@gc.cuny.edu) for training on the following instruments:
    • FEI Helios Nanolab 660 FIB-SEM
    • FEI Titan Themis 200 TEM
  • 120 kV Tecnai Spirit TEM – contact both Tong Wang (twang1@gc.cuny.edu) and Sheng Zhang (szhang3@gc.cuny.edu) for training on this instrument

Training Costs

The general staff service charge is applied to instrument trainings: total training cost = staff hourly rate × staff hours + instrument hourly rate × instrument hours. Training hours are listed in the table below for all training packages. Charges are based on the listed hours in the table, not the actual training time. CUNY users pay only the instrument rate (no staff service charge).

See instrument and staff service rates

Training Packages Maximum Training hours Staff Hours (Non-CUNY Academic) Staff Hours (Start-up and Industrial)
SEM 2 2 2
SEM + EDS 3 3 3
SEM + FIB 4 4 4
Auto Slice & View (must finish “SEM + FIB” training first) 3 3 3
TEM sample lift out (must finish “SEM + FIB” training first) 6 6 6
Leica STED 2 2 2
WiTec Raman 2 0 2
200kV Themis TEM 2 2 2
200kV Themis TEM + STEM 3 3 3
200kV Themis TEM + EDS 3 3 3
200kV Themis TEM + tomography 3 3 3
120 kV Spirit Standard training 4 0 4
Negative Staining Training – 120kV Spirit* 5 1 5
Cryo-EM Training Stage 1 – 120kV Spirit* 8 2 8
Cryo-EM Training Stage 2 – 300kV Halo* 1 day (7 hours) 1 day (7 hours) 1 day (7 hours)

*CryoEM Training Special Requirements

CryoEM training consists of three stages:

  1. Negative Staining training
  2. Cryo-EM Stage 1 training
  3. Cryo-EM Stage 2 training

Users must practice a minimum of 10 hours and pass a qualifying test after completing each stage to progress to the next stage.

General Imaging Facility User Policies
All users must read this document carefully and sign it to certify that they are aware of, understand, and will adhere to the stated policies.

Facility Reservations

The Imaging Facility uses the Badger system to make instrument reservations. For experienced users, who do not need assistance from facility staff, please make reservations directly in Badger system following the facility user policies. For non-experienced users, who need staff assistance or training purposes, please contact the facility staff to confirm availability before making reservations in Badger. New users must finish all the user registration steps and are able to login Badger with their accounts before scheduling training.

COVID-19 Phased Reopening Policies

Computer Use Policies

Badger

Badger installation: http://cuny1.badgerlms.com/badger/News.html

ASRC Badger Dashboard »

Badger User Instructions
Follow these step-by-step instructions to reserve, check-in, enable and disable instruments in the Imagine Facility. (Note: during the phased reopening period at the ASRC reservations will be accepted via email only. See “User Policies” above for details.)

ID card sign-up session

 

Instrument Instructions and Documentation

Forms:

Other resources:

General

  • Visitor information (building access, travel by public transportation and by car, parking facilities)

Nanoscience

 Structural Biology

FIB-SEM/TEM reference operation videos:

For more information, please contact:


Facility Advisory Committee

  • Amedee des Georges (ASRC, The City College of New York)
  • Amirali Zangiabadi (Columbia University)
  • Oleg Gang (Columbia University, BNL)

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