By Jamie Goodchild, AFM Applications Engineer
Reading all the comments from our research colleagues gives us many things to reflect on. 2025 is set to be a big year for NuNano with several new products set to hit the shelves (watch this space!).
What struck me most from the responses we received was how most people mentioned AI. With not one, but two Nobel prizes awarded in 2024 for machine learning (ML), its growth within AFM is inevitable. As we have written about previously, we use ML to inspect every probe we sell, guaranteeing the sharpness and correct mechanical properties of every single probe. Right now, our Inspection Engineers are dedicating many hours to training algorithms to recognise new shapes of tip and lever, to ensure our customers have reliable probes to image with, every time!
It’s great to see data sharing and community in the list. Many people in the AFM world have been pushing for this for a while – and with good reason. The AFM world often lags behind electron and optical microscopies because we haven’t quite worked out how to work together yet. Much of this stems from the diversity of AFM application, but as AFMers we have more in common than we often realise and are strongest when we work together. We love being part of the AFM community, not just because we like seeing our AFM friends at conferences. Via NuNano’s AFM community (newsletter, LinkedIn and social media channels) we work to share relevant info, and we certainly hope we can assist in promoting data repositories, training programmes, and community events.
Correlative systems and instrumentation came up a few times in the predictions for 2025. It is always exciting to see new instruments and with Park Systems bringing their industry level automation to a large sample research instrument and Oxford Instruments Asylum Research continuing to push the technological barriers by introducing interferometry for more accurate and precise tip placement, this is set up to be an exciting year.
As someone who slaved away doing separate AFM and fluorescence microscopy during their PhD, it is very exciting to see the rise of the correlative system. The compliment of nanometre topographical information with optical and spectral chemical information enables the linking of properties at the nanoscale that was not possible previously. With new correlative modes, it gives us here at NuNano much to think of in terms of probe development: probes that are suitable for spectroscopy as well as topography for example, or probes for advanced electrical modes.
But enough from me! Here’s what other people thought about AFM Trends for 2025:
AI and Machine Learning
“It’s really exciting to see the community coming together to pioneer the adoption of AI methods in SPM, this includes the recently funded SPM4.0 project, an innovative Marie Curie Skłodowska Doctoral Network (MSCA-DN) dedicated to advancing the capabilities of autonomous Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) powered by Artificial Intelligence.”
Professor Alice Pyne, University of Sheffield
“I expect the use of AI and machine learning for AFM operation and analysis of AFM data will grow more rapidly and become more widespread in 2025. The amount of experimental data required for training good models is quite large and with strong pushes to share data this will hopefully lead to more sharing of data in general along side general AFM publications and as training data sets to train new neural networks to perform different tasks.”
Dr George Heath, University of Leeds
“I am keeping an eye on the increasing role of AI/ML in image processing/data analysis, as the SPM community becomes more engaged in developing open-source tools. We are behind some other microscopy communities in this area, so would be good to see if there can be some catch-up next year.”
Dr Dalia Yablon, SurfaceChar LLC
“What comes to mind first is the use of AI in the analysis of images and all other data (mechanical, optical, etc.), especially in cases where it would be too difficult to hold all this information in mind and come up with trends and relationships. I saw a couple of great talks at ICSPM32 in Japan. These are not hyped areas of research but refreshingly honest in their use of AI.”
Data Sharing and Community Resources
“In general I think one of the biggest pushes to share AFM data in existing repository sites will come in 2025 and potentially the formation of a dedicated AFM data repository which could open up many new avenues to for exciting computational approaches across labs and systems.”
Dr George Heath, University of Leeds
“Collaboration and knowledge-sharing are set to shape the future of AFM. UK research institutions are fostering partnerships to develop transferable methodologies, streamline workflows, and enhance reproducibility. Training initiatives for technicians and open support from groups like the Royal Microscopy Society will ensure equitable access to these advancements. As bespoke analyses (roughness, mechanics and chemical spectra) become routine through shared expertise, AFM will drive innovation, unlocking new possibilities across disciplines and reshaping nanoscale research.”
Dr Jacob Pattem, Cardiff University
“Because accessibility and ease-of-use remains an area of great personal interest, and one in which I think the SPM world continues to underperform, an area I hope to see more development in and that I will be putting my own personal efforts into is developing improved and more widespread resources for user training. Additionally, to better support and broaden the SPM network, look out for some new symposia and opportunities to highlight often underappreciated segments of the AFM community!”
Dr Dalia Yablon, SurfaceChar LLC
New instruments, Correlative techniques & New techniques
“I mainly work at the interface between materials research for energy storage devices and AFM. I am convinced, that in the field of energy materials, in particular electrode materials in interaction with liquid electrolytes, techniques where you have measurements at the interface between a solid substrate and a fluid with additional electrochemical processes taking place (e.g. SECM, but also things like topography scanning with externally applied potential or electrochemical measurements in fluids) will become more and more important in the next one to two years.”
Dr Kerstin Neuhaus, Helmholtz-Institute Münster
“I expect correlative AFM systems to continue improving usability and imaging speed, enabling even greater insights into the correlation between topography dynamics and molecular identity/specificity.”
Dr George Heath, University of Leeds
“Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is poised for a transformative leap by 2025, driven by correlative techniques combining imaging, mechanics, and chemical analysis. By integrating AFM with fluorescence microscopy and spectral imaging, researchers can uncover multidimensional insights into both biological and material systems. This holistic approach, alongside a strong focus on single-cell and single-molecule force spectroscopy via Fluid-Force Microscopy, will enable groundbreaking studies into nanoscale biological processes, from protein folding to cell adhesion, with implications for medicine and beyond.”
Dr Jacob Pattem, Cardiff University
“Several new instruments have recently been announced so I’m keeping my eyes on them (coming off of MRS I was able to see them all)…..Oxford Instrument’s Cypher Vero that uses QPDI (Quadrature Phase Differential Interferometry) for more accurate tip displacement sensing than optical beam deflection is clearly very powerful for techniques like PFM. I'm hoping to see it branch out further into applications beyond that. I’m also curious to see if the new Park Systems’ FX200 (a fully automated large sample instrument), the Bruker Dimension Nexus system, (a new mid-range system), and MadAFM (a new AFM from veteran nanopositioner manufacturer Mad City Labs) improve AFM’s accessibility.“
Dr Dalia Yablon, SurfaceChar LLC
“A trend I’m hoping for and excited to see is an acceleration of the growth of quantitative data analysis in AFM!”
Professor Alice Pyne, University of Sheffield
There we go, thank you to all our amazing AFM colleagues for their insightful contributions. If half of these predictions come true, 2025 is going to be a big year for AFM! All of us here at NuNano will be keeping an eye out for developments in all of these areas.
Are there any upcoming trends you think we’ve missed? Get in touch community@nunano.com as we’d love to hear and share your thoughts on how AFM will continue to develop over the coming months.