At ELI-ALPS there are two biomedical laboratories of 65 and 72 m2 . These include the following sub units:

General bio-laboratory devices

Radiation biology laboratory

In vitro cell culture laboratory

Analitic and molecular biology laboratory

Histopathology

Zebrafish laboratory

General bio-laboratory devices

 Scales,refrigerators, freezers, centrifuges, pH meter, autoclave, water destillatory,  US bath for basic preparations

 Radiation biology laboratory

 X-ray irradiator

XSTRAHL self contained X-ray irradiator (RS320), for safe and accurate dose delivery for pre-clinical in-vitro and in-vivo irradiation studies. The irradiator is appropriate for cell cultures and small animal irradiation. It is equipped with Cu and Al beam hardening filters, collimators with six different size, alignment laser system for easy specimen setup, CCTV camera for internal observation of the chamber. The cabinet can be supplemented with other equipment like positioning systems, monitoring and diagnostic systems, hypoxia incubator etc. The main characteristics of cabinet are: volatege up to 300kV, current up to 30mA depending on the applied voltage, power 3.2kW.

 Dosimetry systems and equipments

PTW UNIDOS webline universal dosemeter: high performance secondary standard and reference class dosemeter/electrometer with integrated network features. UNIDOSwebline surpasses the requirements for reference class dosemeters according to IEC60731, the IPEM secondary standard dosemeter guidelines, IEC 61674 for diagnostic radiology and IEC 60846 for health physics.

Waterproof PTW Farmer Chamber: with vented sensitive volume of 0.6 cm3 and flat energy response for absolute photon and electron dosimetry to be used in water or in solid-state material. The nominal photon energy range is from 30 kV to 50 MV, the electron energy range is from 10 MeV to 45 MeV.

MicroDiamond detector: nearly water equivalent for all beam energies with very small sensitive volume (0.004 mm³) for precise, accurate measurements in photon, electron and proton fields. Radiation quality: 100 … 25MV photon, 6 ... 25 MeV electrons, 70 ... 230 MeV protons.

Soft X-ray ionization chamber:fully guarded, parallel plate, poly-ethylene therapy chamber with 0.03 mm entrance window and 0.02cm3 vented sensitive volumes, suitable for use in air and in solid state phantoms. Radiation quality: 15 – 70kV X-rays

PTW RW3 slab phantom: water-equivalent RW3 slab phantom with chamber adaptation plates, suitable for high energy photon and electron dosimetry with possibility to vary the measuring depth up to 30 cm in increments of 1 mm. The size of the complete phantoms is 30 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm.

Acrylic slab phantom: for small soft X-ray chamber and soft x-ray measurements up to 100kV.

ESTRO Mini-Phantom parallel and perpendicular for Farmer chamber: cylindrical acrylic phantom acc. to ESTRO Booklet 3/1997. 40 mm diameter by 240 mm in height. For 'in air' measurements or measurement of volume scatter ratios. Accommodates a Farmer type ion chamber parallel and perpendicular to the phantom axis, at a depth of 100 mm.

Brass Mini-Phantom: cylindrical brass phantom acc. DIN 6809-8 and AAPM TG 74. For in-air output ratio measurements for small field sizes at a measurement depth of 100 mm.

Film dosimetry system: based on Gafchromic EBT films scanned with EPSON Expression 11000XL Pro A3 flatbed color scanner (RGB 48 bit). Resolution 2400 dpi, measuring range max 3,8 OD, USB 2.0 computer interface, includes transmission light unit and universal power supply. The scanned films are evaluated with in-house developed Python software.

Chemical dosimetry system: with Fricke, classical FBX and optimized FBX chemical dosimetry solutions irradiated in an in-house developed special plexy phantom and evaluated spectrophotometric with PerkinElmer Lambda35 photo-spectrometer.

Spectrophotometery with Lambda 35 (PerkinElmer) UV/VIS spectrophotometer

High quality double-beam UV/VIS spectrophotometer and UV Winlab software, with variable bandwidth (190-1100nm) for measurements in absorbance range up to 3.2A. Suitable for routine UV/VIS testing, liquids analysis, solid, pastes and powder samples. With the nanodrop adapter we can perform micro-volume analysis of purified nucleic acids and wide variety of proteins.

In vitro cell culture „laboratory”

   In vitro cell culture laboratory  includes all of the devices for research on malignant and heathy cell lines under normoxic and hypoxic conditions

 Two sterile laminar flows boxes; for sterile work with tissue and cell cultures

thermostat (CO2); required 37 C◦  and 5% CO2 concentration for cell proliferation and in vitro creation of primer cell lines

inverse microscope; for detection of cells and evaluation

laboratory centrifuge; for cells

water bath; required 37 C◦

refrigerator an freezer; which is ready for immediate use nutrients, buffers, EDTA solution can be stored and in the deep freezer enzyme solutions.

liquid nitrogen storage container; long-term storage of cell cultures

hypoxic chamber (BioSpherix C-Chamber)

 Analytic and molecular biology laboratory

qT-PCR machine (Roche Lightcycler 480) quantitative real-time PCR technique; the best option for analyzing gene expression changes through signal transduction

PCR machine (Bio-Rad T100™ Thermal Cycler)

Multimode Plate Reader (Perkin Elmer EnSight)

The multimode plate reader combines labeled and image-based cytometry technologies in a single benchtop platform. Imaging and online data analysis is fast: a 384-well plate can be imaged in less than 5 mins. The system’s modular design, combined with workflow-based data acquisition and analysis software, gives a truly versatile plate reader that gets users productive quickly.

Key technologies: Fluorescence well-imaging with single cell resolution for up to four colors, brightfield and digital phase-contrast imaging; Corning® Epic® optical technology; AlphaLISA®/AlphaScreen® detection with high power laser excitation; Fluorescence intensity detection (top- and bottom-reading) with monochromator; Time-resolved fluorescence detection, for example DELFIA® and LANCE® technologies; Ultra-sensitive luminescence for low signals; Filter- and optional monochromator-based absorbance detection.

Histopathology

 The histological laboratory provide an automatic system to prepare different tissues for microscopic studies and to examine the tissue characteristics and microscopic structure of the cells. Haemotoxylin and Eosin (H-E) staining is commonly used in histopathology laboratories for investigating underlying cellular and tissue structures, and it is used as a control for all immunohistochemical staining as well. By using special immunohistochemical stainings, we can get more detailed information on the presence and localization of certain substances in cells or tissues, as well as the number of molecules present in different pathological conditions

Water Bath (Leica HI 1210)

This instrument is a paraffin flotation bath for flattening and drying cut tissue samples used in all fields of biomedical research.

Rotary Microtome (Leica RM2245)

This instrument is a semi-motorized rotary microtome with separate control panel for creating thin sections of specimens of varying hardness for use in research laboratories in various fields. It is designed for cutting soft paraffin-embedded specimens as well as harder specimens.

Cold Plate (Leica HistoCore Arcadia C)

The instrument is a cold plate for chilling and blocking out histological tissue samples in paraffin blocks.

Paraffin Embedding Station (Leica HistoCore Arcadia H)

This instrument is a modern paraffin embedding station with a microprocessor control system. It is designed for embedding histological tissue specimens in molten paraffin for use in laboratories. It is usable for the following tasks: melt solid paraffin for sample embedding and maintain the molten paraffin at the required temperature; dispense paraffin into embedding molds where the specimens are placed; heat and maintain the temperatures of embedding cassettes with specimens and molds as well as the required forceps.

Heatable forceps (Leica EGF)

This instrument is an electrical heatable forceps used for transferring and orienting histological tissue samples.

Automated slide stainer (Leica Autostainer XL)

The instrument has a specimen slide transport system, which alows for simultaneous processing of up to 11 specimen slide holders, each with 30 slides.

The autostainer’s flexibility permits simultaneous processing of specimen slide holders according to various staining protocols. An oven is integrated into the instrument for quickly drying specimen slides. Optimized wash stations provide for rapid removal of reagent residue. The design of the specimen slide holders ensures minimal reagent displacement and prevents the reagents from being contaminated by liquid dripping into them and needing to be replaced prematurely. It has an integrated system for extracting reagent vapors. The specimen slide holders are loaded and unloaded using two drawers.

Zebrafish laboratory

 The zebrafish vertebrate animal model system for research is used in many areas including embryonic development, genetic analyses, neural circuit function and behavior.

 The Techniplast ZebTec Multilink system is a monitored automated fish housing system, gives the opportunity to improve the zebrafish welfare and research quality. It provides the necessary parameters for keeping the zebrafishes under a well-regulated and proper conditions which are controlled by the central monitoring unit, and which are indispensable to their well-being.

Viewpoint Zebrabox  for automated behavior analysis on larvae and early life stage zebrafish (revolution for high throughput monitoring of larvae)

 ZebraTower for adult fish monitoring

Zeiss Axio Observer Z1 inverted fluorescence microscope can be used for different histology, immunohistochemistry sample evaluation, for live cell fluorescence imaging. The system is completely automated and can be programed for long term experiments, for 96 well plate (well by well) detection.

Pico Injector (Harvard Apparatus Model PLI-100A)

The microinjector allows small liquid volumes to be delivered precisely through micropipettes by applying a regulated pressure for a digitally set period of time. The pressure is applied pneumatically (compressed gas) to deliver volumes from microliters to femtoliters from the same instrument.

Apochromatic Stereo Microscope (Zeiss Stemi 508)

This microscope is compact, reliable and equipped with optics and mechanics. It has large 36 mm object field, 8:1 zoom up to 50x magnification. With this microscope, we can observe development and growth of different model organisms, evaluate, sort, select or dissect eggs, larvae, embryos and use micromanipulators for injection.

General purpose chemistry laboratory, which supports the sample/target preparation of the users. It is equipped with the basic chemistry laboratory tools. These include (among others):

-       Glovebox with controlled O2 and H2O content

-       Fume hoods

-       Analytical balance

-       Plasma cleaner

-       Ultrasonic bath

-       Temperature controlled water bath

-       pH meter

-       Hotplate

-       High temperature furnace

-       Vacuum dryer with heating capacity

-       Microcentrifuge

-       General purpose glassware and plasticware (beakers, pipettes, vials)

In addition, a state-of-the-art electrochemical workstation is also available, which includes a potentiosat/galvanostat with fast sampling capabilities, equipped with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy module as well as IMPS/IMVS setup.

Serious contribution to the Research Technology installations / commissioning, including each primary sources and beamlines, PSS, MPS, timing, DAQI and all the related facility systems. Highly equipped electrical workshop to allow members and users to access full spectrum of available solutions.

Some of the core capabilities/main instruments:

Merge together traditional milling- and high-end CNC technology. Precision machining, welding, assembling, 3D coordinate measurements, CAM programming and rapid prototyping, just a few from the core capabilities.

Our main device at the Nano Science Laboratory of ELI-ALPS is a RAITH eLINE Plus electron beam lithography system with ultrahigh resolution. The system comprises of a scanning electron microscope based imaging tool equipped with fast electrostatic beam-blanking and pattern generator allowing the electron beam exposure of different resists along predefined routes/lines/shapes. The beam energy is selectable between 20 eV and 30keV. During electron beam exposure the x-y positioning of the sample is ensured by a laser interferometer controlled stage on a 100 mm x 100 mm travel range with 1 nm positioning resolution, and the device is equipped with an automated height sensing unit. The size of the write fields can be adjusted from 0.5 micron to 2 mm, the minimal beam size at 20 kV accelerating voltage is 1.6 nm. The minimum periodicity of the gratings produced by the system does not exceed 40 nm, and the minimum feature size is smaller than 8 nm. For imaging, the system is equipped with an off-axis Everhart-Thornley secondary electron detector and an in lens, combined secondary and backscattered electron detector. Analyzing the chemical composition of the investigated samples is also possible with an X-ray spectrometer and energy dispersive microanalysis system (EDS), capable to detect elements with atomic number between 5-95. The system is equipped with a 3D Module having a motorized arrangement for rotating and tilting samples of size 10 mm x 10 mm with tilt angles between 0 - 90 degree and rotation angles between 0 - 360 degree.

The laboratory has the equipment necessary for resist preparation, i.e. a spin-coater, a plasma cleaner, a hot-plate and ultrasonic bath are available.

As a member of the Optical Preparatory Workshops the Optical Metrology Lab is providing comprehensive optical measurement and characterization services. It works as the quality control laboratory for the incoming optics where all the specified parameters are investigated. Additionally the lab of course host the measurements for the in-house activities.

Spectrophotometer UV-Vis-NIR, PerkinElmer Lambda 1050 equipped with
-URA (Universal Reflectance Accessory) AOI=8÷65°
-DRA (Diffuse Reflectance Accessory), ø60mm and ø150mm integrating sphere
-GPOB (General Purpose of Optical Bench) for gratings and complex optical sub-systems
-175-3300nm

ZYGO laser interferometer for surface form measurements equipped with
λ/20@633nm reference plan/sphere for AR and HR coated optics respectively (no compromise with attenuators)

As a member of the Optical Preparatory Workshops the Polishing workshop is dedicated to custom optical fabrication/finishing, including substrate refurbishing.

Every kind of geometrical attributes can be achieved in-house prepared from rough materials (glass, fused silica, crystals, metals and ceramics) within the dimensions dia. 10-200mm / radii 5-0mm. Optical, mechanical tolerances according to ISO standards.

5D CNC optical processing center (max. dia.250mm)
NC controlled Optic cutter
Laser interferometer (4" vertical) for surface form measurements
Traditional lever machine for precision polishing
Manual polishing machine for correction polishing    

As a member of the Optical Preparatory Workshops the Thin Film Coating Lab is intended to serve any kind of custom optical multilayer coating request. In our facility we have a HV coating system equipped with a variety of deposition sources e.g. 2* resistance (thermal) sources for proper metal films, a multi-pocket electron beam source for dielectrics, with a KRI end-Hall ion-source for adequate substrate cleaning as well as ion-assisted deposition. Apart from that we have 2 magnetrons that can be switched between both from RF/DC power supplies in order to allow us to do sequential sputtering of complex multilayer structures if needed. For better homogeneity we have flat (for sputtering), calotte (semi-spherical for evaporation) and planetary gear substrate holders, due to different source characteristics. We use OptiLayer thin film software(s) to characterize, design and reverse-engineer coatings. This all comes with the flexibility to iterate problems directly with the colleagues/users in-house.

Vacuum technology and equipment assembly group is responsible to implementation related activities, especially vacuum, optics and optomechanics as well as cleanroom services. The group maintains a small complementary workshop that is dedicated to some milling capabilities allowing colleagues to modify mechanical parts in urgent cases; and has an off-line vacuum system for demonstration, training, measurement and calibration purposes. The group provide a variety of cleaning techniques based on the application that requires vacuum cleanliness. This of course comes with adequate metrology support.

-RGA analysis, vacuum gauge calibration, specimen degassing rate measurement, etc

-dedicated and disposable cleanroom garments, cleanroom consumables and comprehensive maintenance service