Dr Marcus Newton

 PhD, FInstP, FHEA
Associate Professor

Research interests

  • Bragg coherent diffraction imaging (BCDI) of quantum materials
  • Synchrotron science and technologies for lens-less imaging at the nanoscale
  • Ultra-fast processes in quantum materials probed using X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) facilities

More research

Accepting applications from PhD students.

About

Marcus Newton is an Associate Professor and leader of the Coherent X-ray Science Group. His research is focussed on the study of quantum materials at the nanoscale.  This includes the study of multiferroic materials for next generation energy efficient integrated devices.  Other research activities include the use of symmetry equivalence in quantum materials for modelling early universe phenomena such as cosmic strings and the Higgs mechanism. He has pioneered the development and use of lens-less imaging techniques such as Bragg coherent diffraction imaging (BCDI) for the study of quantum materials at the nanoscale. He also plays an active role in the development of CDI techniques at the Diamond Light Source synchrotron facility.  

He has many years experience in delivering lecture series courses on 'Crystalline Solids' (PHYS3004), ‘Applied Nuclear Physics’ (PHYS3009) and ‘Computer Techniques in Physics’ (PHYS6017) as a part of the undergraduate teaching programme. He is also co-author of the third edition of Introductory Solid State Physics, an undergraduate text book on condensed matter physics to be published by Taylor & Francis.

Marcus is author of the Interactive Phase Retrieval Suite, the first software package that allows for real-time visualisation of the reconstruction of phase information in both two and three dimensions. This is the most popular software tool for phase reconstruction of Bragg CDI data and is routinely used at various synchrotron facilities including the Diamond Light Source, the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) and the Advanced Photon Source (APS). It has provided Coherent Diffraction Imaging scientists with a step improvement in the efficiency of data analysis through automation and ease of use.