Branton J. Campbell
Professor of Physics
Department of Physics & Astronomy
Brigham Young University, N145 ESC, Provo, UT 84602
Tel: (801)-422-5758, Fax: (801)-422-0553
Email: branton_campbell@byu.edu; URL: https://physics.byu.edu/faculty/campbell/
CURRENT RESEARCH INTERESTS: I apply state-of-the-art x-ray and neutron scattering techniques to study local and long-range structures in a variety of complex solids, including fast-ion conductors, ferroelectric relaxors, high-temperature superconductors, and colossal magnetoresistive manganites, where nanoscale structural features influence macroscopic physical properties. This includes the development of symmetry-mode analysis (through the tools of the ISOTROPY Software Suite) for the determination, refinement and interpretation of distorted structures involving lattice strains, atomic displacements, magnetic moments and occupational orderings at both commensurate and incommensurate wavevectors.
EDUCATION AND APPOINTMENTS
Professor, 2014 - present
Brigham Young University, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Fulbright Scholar/Visiting Professor (2014-2015)
Durham University, Dept. of Chemistry, Durham, UK
Associate Professor, 2008 - 2014
Brigham Young University, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Assistant Professor, 2002 - 2008
Brigham Young University, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Post Doctoral Research Associate, 1999-2002
Argonne National Laboratory, Materials Science Division
Research supervisor: Ray Osborn
Ph.D., Materials Science, 1999
University of California at Santa Barbara, Materials Science Department
Research advisor: Anthony K. Cheetham
M.A., Physics, 1995
University of California at Santa Barbara, Physics Department
B.S. Magna Cum Laude, Physics and Mathematics, 1993
Brigham Young University, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Research advisors: Harold T. Stokes and Larry V. Knight
Brigham Young University, Department of Mathematics
PROFESSIONAL HONORS, SERVICE, AND AFFILIATIONS
American Crystallographic Association
Kenneth N. Trueblood Award, American Crystallographic Association (2025)
Materials Science SIG Executive Committee (2007, Chair 2008, 2009)
Materials Science SIG Nominating Committee (2010, 2011, 2012, 2018)
Session/Symposium/Workshop Chair/Organizer (2007, 2008, 2011, 2012,
2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2024)
IUCr2026 Congress in Calgary Canada
Board of Managers, Chair (2025-present)
Board of Managers, Member (2023-2025)
Congress Co-organizer (2021-2022)
Congress Bid team (2017, 2020)
International Union of Crystallography
Co-Editor of Acta Cryst. A (2024-present)
Chair of the Commission on Magnetic Structures (2012-2023)
Co-Editor of Acta Cryst. B special issue on Magnetic Crystallography (2024-25)
Secretary of the Commission on Magnetic Structures (2011-2012)
Session/Symposium/Workshop Chair/Organizer (2008, 2014, 2017, 2020,2023)
International School of Crystallography (Erice)
Scientific Director of the 53th Course on Magnetic Crystallography (2019)
Neutron Scattering Society of America
US National Committee on Crystallography
Chair (2021-2023)
Vice-Chair (2018-2020)
Member (2013-2017)
Fulbright Scholar, University of Durham Dept. of Chemistry, (2014-2015)
Plenary/Keynote addresses
Society of Crystallographers from Australia and New Zealand (SCANZ),
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia (plenary, 2016)
International Union of Crystallography Congress, Montreal, Canada (keynote, 2014)
British Crystallographic Association (BCA) Meeting, U. Warwick, UK (plenary, 2012)
Scattering Facilities
Neutron Scattering Science Review Committee for HIFR/SNS (2011-present)
CORELLI/TOPAZ Instrument Development Teams at ORNL-SNS (2007-2012)
UT/ORNL DOE EPSCoR Advisory Committee (2013-2014)
Journal referee
Acta Cryst. A & B, J. Am. Ceram. Soc., J. Am. Chem. Soc., Am. Miner., J. Appl. Cryst.,
J. Appl. Phys., Appl. Phys. Lett., J. Chem. Phys., Chem. Thermo. Thermal Anal.,
Euro. Phys. Lett., Geophys. Res. Lett., J. Inorg. Chem., J. Magn. Magn. Materials,
J. Materials Chem., Nature Comm., Phase Transitions, J. Phys. Chem. Solids,
Physica B, Phys. Rev. B, Phys. Rev. Lett., J. Solid State Chem., Z. Krist.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS (Full List)
- "Exploitation of pseudo-symmetry in the Cambridge Structural Database for molecular ferroelectric discovery", S.Y. Thompson, H.T. Stokes, B.J. Campbell, E.D. Goldberg, and J.S.O. Evans, CrystEngComm 27, 5803-5818 (2025).
- "Small-angle rigid-unit modes requiring linear strain compensation", B.T. Eggers, H.T. Stokes and B.J. Campbell, Acta Cryst. A 81, 26–35 (2025).
- "Guidelines for communicating commensurate magnetic structures. A report of the International Union of Crystallography Commission on Magnetic Structures", J. M. Perez-Mato, B. J. Campbell, V. O. Garlea, F. Damay, G. Aurelio, M. Avdeev, M. T. Fernandez-Diaz, M. S. Henriques, D. Khalyavin, S. Lee, V. Pomjakushin, N. Terada, O. Zaharko, J. Campo, O. Fabelo, D. B. Litvin, V. Petricek, S. Rayaprol, J. Rodriguez-Carvajal and R. Von Dreele, Acta Cryst. B 80, 219–234 (2024).
- "Chiral multiferroicity in two-dimensional hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites", H. Zheng, A. Ghosh, M. J. Swamynadhan, Q. Zhang, W. P. D. Wong, Z. Wu, R. Zhang, J. Chen, F. Cimpoesu, S. Ghosh, B. J. Campbell, K. Wang, A. Stroppa, R. Mahendiran, K. P. Loh, Nature Commun. 15, 5556 (2024).
- "Computational Screening and Stabilization of Boron-Substituted Type-I and Type-II Carbon Clathrates", Tiange Bi, Bryce T. Eggers, R. E. Cohen, Branton J. Campbell, Timothy Strobel, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 146, 7985-7997 (2023).
- "Giant Spontaneous Magnetostriction in MnTe Driven by a
Novel Magnetostructural Coupling Mechanism", Raju Baral, A.M. Milinda Abeykoon, Branton J. Campbell, and Benjamin A. Frandsen, Adv. Funct. Mater. 33, 2305247 (2023). - "Switchable Rashba anisotropy in layered hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite by hybrid improper ferroelectricity", F. Wang, H. Gao, C. de Graaf, J. M. Poblet, B. J. Campbell, and A. Stroppa, NPJ Comput. Mater. 6 (1), 183 (2020).
SELECTED CONFERENCE & WORKSHOP PRESENTATIONS (Full List)
- American Crystallographic Association Meeting in Lombard, Illinois (Kenneth N. Trueblood award lecture), 18-23 July 2025, B.J. Campbell and H.T. Stokes, “New directions and opportunities for symmetry-centric structural science”.
- International Workshop on Magnetic Crystallography (IWMC2024) at Dongguan International Exhibition Hotel, Dongguan City, Guangdong, China, 24-30 Nov 2024, B.J. Campbell (invited lectures and tutorials), 23-26 Aug 2024, B.J. Campbell, "Incommensurate magnetic structures and magnetic superspace groups (MSSGs)" and "Introduction to symmetry-mode analysis and the ISOTROPY Software Suite".
- Shanghai International Crystallographic School: Chirality in solid-state physics and quantum materials at Shanghai University, Shanghai, China (invited lecture) 15-21 Jun 2024, B.J. Campbell, “A new symmetry-mode based descriptor of chirality: Applications to chiral organic-inorganic hybrid metal-halides.
- American Crystallographic Association Meeting in Denver, Colorado, 09 July 2024, B.J. Campbell, Bryce T. Eggers, Harold T. Stokes, “Large-angle rigid unit modes in crystalline frameworks”
- 26th Congress of the International Union of Crystallography in Melbourne, Australia, Aug 2023 (invited lecture), Branton J. Campbell, Harold T. Stokes, J. Manuel Perez-Mato, Juan Rodríguez-Carvajal, "The unified (UNI) system of magnetic space-group symbols".
SELECTED SEMINAR PRESENTATIONS (Full List)
- Utah State University, Dept. of Physics, Logan Utah, Oct 2025, "Symmetry-mode analysis of crystalline materials".
- Idaho State University, Dept. of Physics, Pocatello Idaho, Oct 2023, "The search for large-angle rigid unit modes in 3D framework materials".
- University of Alabama, Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Tuscaloosa Alabama, Oct 2020, "The science of symmetry breaking in crystals".
- Hindu Banaras University, Depts. of Physics and Materials Science, Varanasi, India, Aug 2017, "Symmetry breaking in crystals", “Facilitating structure determination using the ISODISTORT software”.