Alan Burns

Dr Burns was a staff scientist at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, for 31 years. His career began with gas phase laser spectroscopy with applications to quantum-resolved detection of molecules desorbed from transition metal surfaces. After many years of research in the field of desorption induced by electronic transitions, he began to focus on interfacial tribology and investigated the molecular-level aspects of friction with novel scanning probe techniques and conjugated polymer interfaces. During his final years of active research, he collaborated with the Dept. of Pathology at the University of New Mexico on the structural characterization of signaling domains in cellular membranes using combined atomic force microscopy and fluorescence imaging. Dr Burns joined the Edanz Group as an editor in 2011.