Dr. Katherine Sytwu

ksytwu AT lbl.gov


Office: Bldg 72, Rm 222

1 Cyclotron Road

Berkeley, CA 

About Me

I'm a staff scientist at the Molecular Foundry at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, where I research how nanophotonics can be used to control nanoparticle and nanomaterial systems, with a particular interest in photocatalysts. In addition to my research, I collaborate with Molecular Foundry users with electron microscopy and spectroscopy characterization to advance their research. I specialize in optically-coupled transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and low loss electron spectroscopy, which enables characterization of heterogeneous optical properties at the nanoscale. I also develop data-driven and machine learning techniques to interpret the large and multidimensional datasets that come from spectral imaging and in situ TEM experiments.  

I am primarily responsible for the Spectra STEM (incoming 2025), a multimodal optoelectronic TEM with optical-coupling capabilities for cathodoluminescence and light injection, at the National Center for Electron Microscopy (NCEM). 

Brief CV

2024 - present      Staff Scientist, Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

2022-2024              Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Fellow, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

2021-2022              Postdoctoral Researcher, Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

2014-2021               Ph.D. in Applied Physics, Stanford University

2010-2014               B.S in Physics, B.A. in Mathematics, Rutgers University



I'm currently hiring for a postdoctoral researcher to work in optically-coupled electron microscopy. See job posting and application here