D. MacLaren's homepage, University of Glasgow MCMP Group

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Welcome to my homepage! I am a Senior Lecturer in the Materials & Condensed Matter Physics group in the School of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Glasgow. My research interests include nanostructural characterisation using advanced techniques, including electron and scanned probe microscopies. Please use the links to the left to find out more.

    Dr. Donald MacLaren,
    School of Physics and Astronomy,[map]
    Room 308b,
    The Kelvin Building,
    The University of Glasgow,[GoogleMaps]
    GLASGOW G12 8QQ

Tel.: +44 141 330 5886
Fax.: +44 141 330 4464

Latest news
This section is no longer maintained but for recent updates, see the MCMP Twitter feed

29 August 2017: My recent microscopy study of nanostructured diamond has been selected as an 'Editor's Pick' in the journal Applied Physics Letters.
6 July 2017: Hurray for my student Monifa, who won the student 'best oral presentation' award at the recent EMAG meeting held within the Microscience Microscopy Congress 2017. Monifa fought-off fierce competition to become triumphant with her confident discussion of "Resistive Switching in a PCMO Device Incorporating a Zirconia Tunnel Barrier".
22 June 2017: Poster-tastic! My student, Liam's poster caused a stir at the annual PIADS CDT Conclave, with his passion for plasmons bringing him first prize. Well done, Liam!
15 June 2017: Plasma FIB inauguration event - the big day, and the official opening of our fancy new Xenon Plasma FIB is finally here!
6 Sept 2016: Wow! Some of my TEM data was shown on the BBC News at 10 last night! The story is about the discovery of pollution-derived nanoparticles in the human brain and was published in the prestigious journal PNAS. See my publications page for further media links.
14 June 2016: New funding! :-) The EPSRC have funded our application for a noble gas focused ion beam system. which will revolutionise our ability to nanopattern materials and to produce high quality samples for TEM.
1 Feb. 2016: Work begins today on a fantastic new research project on thermoelectrics materials, in collaboration with Heriot-Watt and Royal Holloway Universities.
6 August 2015: I'm excited to have contributed in a small way to work published this morning in the prestigious journal Nature, on induced ferromagnetism at the interface of two non-magnetic materials, C₆₀ and copper. The full story is at: Nature 524 (2015) 69
3 June 2015: I'm just back from talking at the MMC conference in Manchester, and giving an invited talk at University College London before that.
12 March 2015: New funding! I am a co-investigator on a new ~Ł1.5m, 5-year grant that will establish a Japan-UK-Russia collaboration in advanced materials based on spin chirality.
19 February 2015: I attended the SuperSTEM 3 inauguration, held at the UK National Microscopy Facility in Daresbury. This fantastic new instrument heralds a new era for energy-resolved electron microscopy.
1 October 2014: Monifa Phillips, a new PhD student has started working with me on resistive memory devices.
10 August 2014: I've just returned from giving talks at the FEMTOMAG summer school in Radboud University, The Netherlands.
8 April 2014: My talk on MRI applications of novel nanoparticles went well at the inaugural Magnetism2014 conference in Manchester.
17 March 2014: Kerry O'Shea's work on the IFOX project wins her bronze prize at the Set for Britain competition held at the Palace of Westminster.
14 January 2014: Aaron Naden's work is featured on the front cover of the Journal of Materials Chemistry.
18 September 2013: I had a fun evening last night, in Cockermouth, for the local Cafe Scientifique, where the reception was very warm and the audience was very receptive to my electron microscopy pictures..
14 September 2013: It has been a busy summer, with trips to the JEMS2013, EMAG2013 and HETEC conferences in Rhodes, York and Glasgow (in order of decreasing exoticism!).
10 June 2013: I've just had an 'Expert Opinion' published in Annalen der Physik.
13 May 2013: Martin King, one of my PhD students, has just submitted this thesis. Hurray!
4 October 2012: My student, Fraser, has had his work selected as the cover story of this week's CrystEngComm :-) .
22 September 2012: The 2012 European Microscopy Congress was pretty exciting, even if I only presented a late-breaking poster.
4 August 2012: I've just returned from a grand week at the IFOX summer school in Hesselberg, Germany, where I was an invited lecturer.
1 August 2012: Excellent: two papers accepted by RSC journals in as many weeks! See my publications page for more details.
11 July 2012: I'm just back from the latest IFOX project meeting in Gottingen, Germany. Some really interesting publications should come out of the collaboration soon!
2 July 2012: An update: I've just returned from BBC Radio Scotland, where I did a short live interview. Not sure how long the link will be live for, but you can hear me (about 1h:23mins in) here: BBC Radio Scotland Newsdrive 2 July
2 July 2012: Well, finally, and after much effort, the big day has finally arrived: our new microscope has officially been opened. The programme for the day's celebrations is here: MagTEM_Opening_Programme.pdf
26 March 2012: We are in the final stages of commissioning our new JEOL ARM microscope, can't wait to get my hands on it...
28 October 2011: Just back from giving an invited talk at the IRUN meeting in Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
01 June 2011: Felt very jealous of data presented at an IFOX meeting in Bologna. Really looking forward to getting our own aberration-corrected microscope soon!
09 May 2011: My beamtime application to the Australian Synchrotron has just been accepted!
21 Mar. 2011: After some delays, the PLD kit is finally being installed in my refurbished lab. :-)
13 Jan. 2011: We spent all day uncrating today's delivery of an excimer laser, vacuum system, electron optics and fittings, etc. for my new PLD system.
1 Dec. 2010: The pan-European, multi-million-Euro project IFOX: Interfacing Oxides finally gets underway. Very exciting!
Nov. 2010: Work gets underway on my new labspace, soon to house a Pulsed Laser Deposition system for the fabrication of high-performance thin films and devices.
1 Oct. 2010: Today I officially start in my new role of EPSRC Career Acceleration Fellow. Woo-hoo!
6 Sept. 2010: I've just been awarded a small grant from the Royal Society of Edinburgh / Scottish Crucible for collaborative research into hydrogen storage materials.
Sept. 2010: My work has been highlighted in the annual scientific review of the Diamond Light Source.
Aug. 2010: The editor of Physical Review B has kindly highlighted my latest research as a Rapid Communication and Editor's Suggestion.