Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) is a branch of microscopy that forms images of surfaces using a physical probe that scans the specimen. SPM was founded in 1981, with the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope, an instrument for imaging surfaces at the atomic level. The first successful scanning tunneling microscope experiment was done by Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer. The key to their success was using a feedback loop to regulate gap distance between the sample and the probe.
Many scanning probe microscopes can image several interactions simultaneously. The manner of using these interactions to obtain an image is generally called a mode.
The resolution varies somewhat from technique to technique, but some probe techniques reach a rather impressive atomic resolution. This is due largely because piezoelectric actuators can execute motions with a precision and accuracy at the atomic level or better on electronic command. This family of techniques can be called "piezoelectric techniques". The other common denominator is that the data are typically obtained as a two-dimensional grid of data points, visualized in false color as a computer image.
AFM, atomic force microscopy
Contact AFM
Non-contact AFM
Dynamic contact AFM
Tapping AFM
AFM-IR
CFM, chemical force microscopy
C-AFM, conductive atomic force microscopy
EFM, electrostatic force microscopy
KPFM, kelvin probe force microscopy
MIM, microwave impedance microscopy
MFM, magnetic force microscopy
PFM, piezoresponse force microscopy
PTMS, photothermal microspectroscopy/microscopy
SCM, scanning capacitance microscopy
SGM, scanning gate microscopy
SQDM, scanning quantum dot microscopy
SVM, scanning voltage microscopy
FMM, force modulation microscopy
STM, scanning tunneling microscopy
BEEM, ballistic electron emission microscopy
ECSTM electrochemical scanning tunneling microscope
SHPM, scanning Hall probe microscopy
SPSM spin polarized scanning tunneling microscopy
PSTM, photon scanning tunneling microscopy
STP, scanning tunneling potentiometry
SXSTM, synchrotron x-ray scanning tunneling microscopy
SPE, Scanning Probe Electrochemistry
SECM, scanning electrochemical microscopy
SICM, scanning ion-conductance microscopy
SVET, scanning vibrating electrode technique
SKP, scanning Kelvin probe
FluidFM, fluidic force microscopy
FOSPM, feature-oriented scanning probe microscopy< MRFM, magnetic resonance force microscopy
NSOM, near-field scanning optical microscopy (or SNOM, scanning near-field optical microscopy)
nano-FTIR, broadband nanoscale SNOM-based spectroscopy
SSM, scanning SQUID microscopy
SSRM, scanning spreading resistance microscopy
SThM, scanning thermal microscopy
SSET scanning single-electron transistor microscopy
STIM, scanning thermo-ionic microscopy
CGM, charge gradient microscopy
SRPM, scanning resistive probe microscopy
To form images, scanning probe microscopes raster scan the tip over the surface.