Efficiency and life time of solar cells, energy and power density of the batteries, and costs of the fuel cells alike cannot be improved unless the complex electronic, optoelectronic, and ionic mechanisms underpinning operation of these materials and devices are understood on the nanometer level of individual defects. Only by probing these phenomena locally can we hope to link materials structure and functionality, thus opening pathway for predictive modeling and synthesis. While structures of these materials are now accessible on length scales from macroscopic to atomic, their functionality has remained Terra Incognitae. In this volume, we provide a summary of recent advances in scanning probe microscopy studies of local functionality of energy materials and devices ranging from photovoltaics to batteries, fuel cells, and energy harvesting systems. Recently emergent SPM modes and combined SPM-electron microscopy approaches are also discussed. Contributions by internationally renowned leaders in the field describe the frontiers in this important field.

The goal of this book is to provide a general overview of the rapidly developing field of novel scanning probe microscopy (SPM) techniques for characterization of a wide range of functional materials, including complex oxides, biopolymers, and semiconductors. Many recent advances in condensed matter physics and materials science, including transport mechanisms in carbon nanostructures and the role of disorder on high temperature superconductivity, would have been impossible without SPM. The unique aspect of SPM is its potential for imaging functional properties of materials as opposed to structural characterization by electron microscopy. Examples include electrical transport and magnetic, optical, and electromechanical properties. By bringing together critical reviews by leading researchers on the application of SPM to to the nanoscale characterization of functional materials properties, this book provides insight into fundamental and technological advances and future trends in key areas of nanoscience and nanotechnology.

The goal of this book is to provide a general overview of the rapidly developing field of novel scanning probe microscopy (SPM) techniques for characterization of a wide range of functional materials, including complex oxides, biopolymers, and semiconductors. Many recent advances in condensed matter physics and materials science, including transport mechanisms in carbon nanostructures and the role of disorder on high temperature superconductivity, would have been impossible without SPM. The unique aspect of SPM is its potential for imaging functional properties of materials as opposed to structural characterization by electron microscopy. Examples include electrical transport and magnetic, optical, and electromechanical properties. By bringing together critical reviews by leading researchers on the application of SPM to to the nanoscale characterization of functional materials properties, this book provides insight into fundamental and technological advances and future trends in key areas of nanoscience and nanotechnology.

This volume will be devoted to the technical aspects of electrical and electromechanical SPM probes and SPM imaging on the limits of resolution, thus providing technical introduction into the field. This volume will also address the fundamental physical phenomena underpinning the imaging mechanism of SPMs.