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Voltage-modulated scanning probe microscopy may elucidate important processes at solid–liquid interfaces, but it is complicated by the presence of mobile ions. By incorporating force sensitivity into a multidimensional measurement approach, Collins et al.present a technique that overcomes these limitations.

Understanding the structural relationship and electronic states between incommensurate/commensurate phases remains an ongoing challenge. Here, the authors report incommensurate structures and electronic roughness on the surface of cleaved IrTe₂.

Analysis of the mechanical properties of two-dimensional materials is important for device development. Here, the authors report a microscopic method for measuring the adhesion of graphene on top of highly ordered pyrolytic graphite, which exploits atomic-scale blisters formed upon neon atom intercalation.

Optimizing oxygen-reduction and -evolution reactions is crucial for improving fuel cell efficiency, but the reaction is poorly understood at the nanoscopic level. Now, the oxygen activity of a platinum-functionalized surface has been mapped at below 10-nm resolution using electrochemical strain microscopy.

The surface of complex oxides can show properties very different to the bulk. Here, the authors observe unexpected surface Jahn–Teller ordering on the surface of La_5/8Ca_3/8MnO₃thin films that can be traced to the pattern of oxygen adatoms.

Rethink electron microscopy to build quantum materials from scratch, urge Sergei V. Kalinin, Albina Borisevich and Stephen Jesse.

Build precision microscopes to map atoms, say Stephen J. Pennycook and Sergei V. Kalinin.

An often overlooked component of scanning probe microscopy involves information transfer from the tip–surface junction to a macroscopic measurement system. Here, the authors present an information–theory-based approach that relies on capturing the response at a wide-frequency band, allowing a complete and unbiased look at probing interaction.

Scanning probe microscopy methods can generate high-dimensional data sets that correspond to a low-dimensional sample. Here, Li et al. develop a graphical bootstrapping method to quantitatively visualize large-scale high-dimensional datasets.

Humanity’s Last Exam, a multi-modal benchmark at the frontier of human knowledge, is designed to be an expert-level closed-ended academic benchmark with broad subject coverage.

The authors find the electric-field-driven motion of domain walls in the improper ferroelectric ErMnO₃, showing that they readily return to their initial position after having travelled distances exceeding 250 nm.

The properties of complex oxides such as strontium titanate are strongly affected by the presence and distribution of oxygen vacancies. Here, the authors demonstrate that a scanning probe microscope tip can be used to manipulate vacancies by the flexoelectric effect.

Ferroelectricity in hafnia-based systems seems to be correlated with oxygen vacancy dynamics, but the coupling of this and ferroelectric response is rarely studied. Here it is shown that Hf_0.5Zr_0.5O₂ can be antiferroionic, with antiferroelectric behaviour coupled to surface electrochemistry.

High-throughput automated synthesis is used to investigate the crystallization behaviour of two-dimensional (2D) halide perovskites (HPs) based on a bulky ligand cation, 3,3-diphenylpropylammonium. The solution-processed 2D HP flakes realize a moiré superlattice, indicating the formation of a twisted 2D stack via self-assembly action.

Resolution of classical piezoresponse force microscopy is limited in data acquisition rates and energy scales. Here, Somnath et al. report an approach for rapid probing of ferroelectric switching using direct strain detection of material response to probe bias, enabling spectroscopic imaging at a rate of 3,504 times faster the current state of the art.

The control of electrical charges through an electronic field is the basis of modern electronic devices such as the transistor. Here, the authors achieve charge density modulation through a ferroelectric field effect in germanium and barium titanate thin-film heterostructures.

Conducting charged ferroelectric domain walls, as potential building blocks for future electronic devices, are unstable and uncommon in ferroelectric materials. Here, Tselev et al. show that neutral insulating domain walls in PbZrO₃ and BiFeO₃thin films are conductive under microwave excitation, allowing for non-destructive read-out.

The switching of ferroelectric domains can be used for applications such as information storage. Here, the authors demonstrate that a broad range of domain morphologies can be induced by the tip of a scanning probe microscope, which can be explained by the dynamics of surface charge screening.

Understanding the conductivity at the nominally uncharged domain walls in ferroelectrics is still far from complete. Here the authors report an enhanced conduction at domain walls in an ultra-thin (001) BiFeO₃ film resulting from the formation of a field-induced meta-stable twisted domain nucleus.

The coexistence of spin order and disorder at a critical point in the phase diagram of multiferroic materials may be exploited to locally control magnetoelectric coupling — as is now shown for doped BiFeO₃ by means of scanning probe microscopy.

Exploring the minute mechanical deformations induced by electrical bias at the interface with electrolytes allows the identification of local crystallinity and distinguishing adsorption and intercalation of ions in electroactive polymers.

An automated workflow for scanning probe microscopy, steered by an active learning framework, can efficiently explore relationships between local domain structure and physical properties. Such a capability is demonstrated in a piezoresponse force microscopy experiment to guide measurements of ferroelectric materials.

Combined multimodal atomic force microscopy, ion microscopy, ion mass spectrometry and infrared spectrometry experiments explore the chemical properties of ferroelastic twin domains in hybrid lead halide perovskites.

High-resolution microscopy methods provide a rich source of information, and allow highly precise measurements of atomic coordinates. Here, the authors report a method for quantitative analysis of material structures using multivariate statistical analysis to identify and distinguish various phases, defects and symmetries.

Vertical nanocomposite films can exhibit a significant enhancement in oxygen ion conductivity, which is useful for oxide-based electrochemical devices such as fuel cells. Here, the authors directly probe this effect in high crystalline nanopillars using scanning probe microscopy.

The controlled creation of one-dimensional conductive channels at the cores of topological defects in the multiferroic material BiFeO₃ demonstrates that such defects can drive metal–insulator phase transitions, and might provide a route towards high-density information storage.

The atomic displacements that generate ferroelectricity in materials commonly fit a double-well potential energy surface. Here, ferroelectricity in two-dimensional CuInP₂S₆ is shown to fit a quadruple well due to the van der Waals gap between layers of this material.

Ferroelectric fatigue degrades ferroelectric properties upon polarization cycling, but its underlying chemistry is poorly understood. Here, the authors show by multimodal chemical imaging that fatigue in PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 thin films is associated with Cu + ions migration from the electrode into the film structure.

The photocurrent generated at the boundary between structural phases of bismuth ferrite reveals information on the coupling between mechanical and electrical phenomena.

Reversible switching of ferroelectric polarization can now be achieved in oxides grown epitaxially on silicon.

Morphotropic phase boundaries, which separate two competing phases of different chemical composition, are the crucial ingredient for lead-based piezoelectrics. Here, the authors show that similar enhanced properties and analogous thermotropic phase boundaries can occur in simple, lead-free ferroelectrics.

The scale and dimensionality of imaging data means information is commonly overlooked. Here, using recurrent neural networks we understand temporal dependencies in hyperspectral imagery, enabling the observation of differences in ferroelectric switching mechanisms in PbZr_0.2Ti_0.8O₃ thin films due to formation of charged domain walls.

Nanoscale ferroelectricity is hard to characterize. Studies of BaTiO₃ thin films now reveal a close coupling between the ferroelectric and the surface electrochemical states — a notion important for future applications of ferroelectric nanomaterials.

The understanding of strain effect on electronic properties of organic semiconductors is crucial for the designs of flexible electronics. Here, Wu et al.characterize the tensile and compressive strain effects on the work function of rubrene single crystals as a benchmark system.

Double corundum-related polar magnets are promising for multiferroic and magnetoelectric applications in spintronics, but are limited by the challenging design and synthesis. Here the authors report the synthesis of Mn₂MnWO₆ as well as its appealing multiferroic and magnetoelectric properties.

Domain walls in van der Waals layered ferrielectric CuInP₂Se₆ exhibit piezoelectric response. This striking departure from traditional ferroelectric behavior is ascribed to a partially polarized antiferroelectric state, where the domain wall separates coexisting regions of ferrielectric and antiferroelectric phases.