Alastair McLean

Professor Alastair McLean is a faculty member at Queen's University within the Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy, part of the Faculty of Arts and Science. He holds cross-appointments at the Carbon to Metal Coating Institute, Queen's University. His research focuses on nano-science, scanning tunneling microscopy, and light emission from nanostructures, emphasizing the design of multi-modal scanning probes. He earned his Ph.D. from Cambridge University and has held postdoctoral positions at Cardiff University and IBM Yorktown Heights.

Key research areas include nanoparticle synthesis, environmental nanotechnology, and nanoelectromechanical systems. His group develops functional materials and studies their atomic-scale properties using advanced microscopy techniques. Notable contributions include work on self-assembled monolayers, surface defect analysis, and molecular adsorption on semiconductor surfaces.

Scientific accolades include Fellowships from the Institute of Physics (UK), CSci, CPhys, and FInstP. His research has produced over 50 peer-reviewed articles, with recent work emphasizing nanostructured materials and educational innovations in laboratory pedagogy.

Advising: Supervised Ben Drevniok (Ph.D.). His lab, the nanophysics group, collaborates on instrumentation development and functional materials. Future work focuses on multi-modal probe integration and environmental nanotechnology applications.