About Us · Our History
The Berkeley Nucleonics Story
Sixty years of precision instrumentation, from a single custom pulse generator to one of the most diverse signal-source companies in the industry.
Sixty years of precision instrumentation, from a single custom pulse generator to one of the most diverse signal-source companies in the industry.
Berkeley Nucleonics designs precision electronic instrumentation for test and measurement, radiation detection, nuclear research, and RF and microwave work. The catalog runs from signal generators and spectrum analyzers to pulse generators and isotope identifiers. The company is headquartered in San Rafael, California, with additional U.S. facilities and a representative network that reaches more than 60 countries.
The company started by building custom pulse generators and quickly earned a reputation for precision and reliability. Its Model 625A ARB and function generator was named Test and Measurement Product of the Year by the Cahners Electronics Group. That early focus on waveform fidelity still defines the arbitrary waveform generators, which today lead the field in modulation bandwidth and memory depth.
Over the decades Berkeley Nucleonics has introduced fifteen distinct digital delay generators, with timing resolution down to 250 femtoseconds. The lineup also includes light pulse generators and RF signal generators, each designed to stay compact without giving up performance.
Established in the mid-1990s, this division built the company's radiation detection systems. The SAM 935, released in 1997, was the first real-time tool for identifying and quantifying multiple radionuclides at once. By 2020 the company had trained personnel at more than 165 locations.
When research budgets tightened in 2008, Berkeley Nucleonics answered with research-grade instruments priced under $2,000, including power supplies, oscilloscopes, and spectrum analyzers.
The company builds standard, specialized, and fully custom scintillation detectors for demanding radiation counting work, refined over two decades of on-site collaboration with customers.
After the 2011 accident, Berkeley Nucleonics sent instruments, trainers, and technicians to Japan, and donated equipment to organizations in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.
Launched in 2011, this division represents leading manufacturers of microwave signal generators, spectrum analyzers, and arbitrary waveform generators.
Founded in 2018, the Academy offers free online courses to college students. It expanded in 2020 to cover nuclear safety, RF and microwave, and materials science.
In 2021 the company acquired the high voltage and high current pulse generator lines of Directed Energy, Inc., extending output to 10,000 volts and making Berkeley Nucleonics one of the most diverse signal-source companies in the world.
Six decades in, the company still measures itself by technical excellence and by how quickly it responds to what customers need next. Berkeley Nucleonics is a proud member of the Government-Industry Data Exchange Program, which works to improve the quality, cost, and authenticity of electronic components.
