Experimental physical chemistry at UCLA is formally represented by nine research groups in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, but, informally, the scope is much broader, and involves groups from other divisions within the department, as well as other departments. If there is a single theme that characterizes experimental physical chemistry at UCLA, it is interdisciplinarity. At the heart of all physical chemistry research is the pursuit of an atomic or molecular level of understanding of the function and structure of complex chemical systems and processes. Experimental physical chemists at UCLA practice their art at the interface between chemistry and many other fields, including electrical engineering, solid-state physics, biology, computer architecture, atmospheric science, chemical engineering, and materials science. Specific topics of study include the spectroscopy and/or reaction dynamics of small molecules, electron transport properties in polymer electronics, the chemical and physical properties of two- and three-dimensional self-assembling systems, quantum dots, chemical catalysis, molecular electronics, the glass transition, biochemical switching processes, chemical sensors, photonic band gap materials, the chemistry of the atmosphere, and others.

Experimental techniques that are utilized by the various physical chemistry groups include spectroscopy and reactive scattering in molecular beams, light scattering, real time structural analysis, cw and ultra-fast spectroscopies, various linear and non-linear spectroscopies, electronic device fabrication, electron microscopies, NMR, magnetometry, scanning probe microscopies, and many more. While the majority of these experimental tools are operated by individual groups, UCLA also has a number of shared user facilities. These include not just the standard x-ray/NMR/mass spec facilities that most chemistry departments have, but also an ultra-high-vacuum surface and materials analysis facility, a device fabrication facility in the engineering department known as the "nano-lab", multi-media labs, and others.

Experimental P-Chem Faculty

	Delroy Baugh	baugh@chem.ucla.edu
	Peter Felker	felker@chem.ucla.edu
	James Gimzewski	gim@chem.ucla.edu
	James Heath	heath@chem.ucla.edu
	Charles Knobler	knobler@chem.ucla.edu
	Yung-Ya Lin	yylin@chem.ucla.edu
	Benjamin Schwartz	schwartz@chem.ucla.edu
	Sarah Tolbert	tolbert@chem.ucla.edu
	Shimon Weiss	sweiss@chem.ucla.edu
	Jeffrey Zink	zink@chem.ucla.edu