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Center of Excellence for Molecular Characterization

Chemistry Core

State-of-the-art instruments and facilities maintained and supervised by technical personnel as departmental resources. Most of our instrumentation is co-sponsored by the USC Core Instrumentation Fund, and comprises the Chemistry Instrumentation Facility and the USC Center of Excellence for Molecular Characterization. These labs are broadly accessible to all USC users and guests. Instrumentation booking is currently managed through FBS. We are in the process of networking our instrument computers and you will see old Windows OS systems switched to VMs running on Ubuntu 22.04.

Instrumentation and Resources

  • Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)
  • X-Ray Crystallography
  • Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR)
  • Optical and Microscopy
  • Mass and Elemental Composition
  • Polymer Properties
  • Physical Property Measurement System
  • Equipment Maintenance and Repair
  • Facilities and Resources Information for Grant Submissions

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)

The Department of Chemistry operates five NMRs with four instruments available for Core usage.

Email Dr. Shawn Wagner (shawn.wagner@usc.edu) for information and assistance.

X-Ray Crystallography

The X-ray diffraction facility is in the Ahmanson Center (ACB 100) and is equipped with both single crystal and powder diffraction instruments.

Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR)

The Department operates an EPR Spectroscopy Lab (TRF 119) that is accessible to USC users and guests.

Email Prof. Peter Qin (qin@usc.edu) for information and assistance.

Optical and Microscopy

The Department operates a broadly capable lab for optical spectroscopy in OCW 109.

Mass and Elemental Composition

The Department has instrumentation for mass spectrometry and elemental composition.

Polymer Properties

NIST funded lab polymer core equipment for detailed analysis of polymer properties.

Email Prof. Megan Fieser (Email fieser@usc.edu) for information and assistance.

Physical Property Measurement System

Email Prof. Brent Melot (melot@usc.edu) for information and assistance.

Accessories to provide a range of measurement capabilities:
Vibrating-sample magnetometry (VSM)
Specific heat
Electrical transport
Photoconductivity
Hall effect
Variable temperature ionic transport

Equipment Maintenance and Repair

The Department maintains its own glass workshop and electronics repair.

Facilities and Resources Information for Grant Submissions


Applying for a grant?

Additional Shared Facilities

There are several Core Facilities and Laboratories at University Park Campus (UPC) available to researchers in the Department of Chemistry.

USC Core Center of Excellence in Nano Imaging (CNI)

Core Center of Excellence in Nano Imaging (CNI) is to promote and advance the science and application of research tools for imaging, visualization, and analysis of nano- through meso-scale features and structures, both man-made and natural, including biological structures.

Agilent Center of Excellence for Biomolecular Characterization

The Agilent COE facility is available for all USC researchers and researchers outside of USC. The broad type of instrumentation in the facility support diverse research activities over the community.

USC Core Nanofabrication Facilities

The breadth of nanofabrication instrumentation enables the cores to support the diverse research activities of USC from fundamental quantum transport studies to nano/bioconvergent research, and is open to all members of the USC research community and are available to external users.

USC Core Center of Excellence in NanoBioPhysics

The Center of Excellence in NanoBiophysics supports faculty and students across the university in the study of molecular nano-assembly, structures and functions. The Facility serves the USC scientific community from both campuses and also outside customers given availability of the instruments’ time.

Contact Details

Chemistry Resource Personnel

Shawn Wagner, PhD

Director Chemistry Instrumentation Resources
Laird J. Stabler Memorial Hall
LJS 160
840 Downey Way
Los Angeles, CA 90089
(213) 764-1515

Prof. Travis J. Williams

Faculty Director of Chemistry Instrumentation
Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute
LHI 104
837 Bloom Walk
Los Angeles, CA 90089
(213) 740-5961