About
Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) & other Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) describes a family of techniques, distinct from the Light and Electron Microscopies in that its spatial resolution is defined not by the wavelength of radiation (such as light, microwaves or electrons), but by the lateral dimensions of the nanoscale probe interrogating the surface, and the short-range nature of the probe-surface interaction. In Scanning Probe Microscopy a physical probe is positioned within a few nanometres of the surface, or in contact with the surface, and the probe is raster-scanned across the surface. A physical property of the surface, to which the probe is sensitive, is used as a control parameter to yield a true 3-dimensional image of the surface. An SPM “image” can contain information from a wide range of forces and interactions and, so SPM can provide quantitative maps of e.g. mechanical, electrical, magnetic, thermal, chemical, optical and electronic properties simultaneously with topography, and both to nanometre, atomic and even subatomic resolution in some conditions. With the development of high-speed SPM these maps can be acquired to time resolutions up to seconds and milliseconds. The probe is often used to obtain local spectroscopic information about the behaviour of a particular property as a parameter such as distance or voltage is ramped. Two important examples of SPM spectroscopy are: Force Spectroscopy, which quantifies the forces felt by the probe as a function of distance with the sample, and Scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS), an extension of scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM), is used to provide information about the density of electrons in a sample as a function of their energy. AFM is also often used as a nanoindenter to obtain nanometre information about the mechanical properties of the sample as it is mechanically deformed.
The Scanning Probe Microscopy Section of the RMS has several distinguishing features:
- We represent a diverse multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary community of researchers and practitioners
- We are developing a number of training short-courses as we look to build and support the community
- We are opening a dialogue with the research councils on mutual training opportunities
The RMS is committed to being a welcoming, inclusive Society and encourages diversity across all activities and in the membership of our committees and groups.
If you are interested in joining any of the committees in the future, please visit our Join a Committee page.
RMS Section Awards
Launched in 2014, the Section Awards (formerly known as the Medal Series) recognise those who have made significant contributions to the field of microscopy. The RMS Section Awards celebrate outstanding scientific achievements across all areas of microscopy and flow cytometry with each RMS Science Section able to select a winner for their own award.
Find out more
Committee
Jamie Hobbs
Jamie received a BSc in Physics from the University of Bristol in 1991, followed by a PhD in polymer physics, also from Bristol. Following work with Peter Barham and Andrew Keller on polymer crystallization, he worked with Mervyn Miles using and developing AFM for studying polymers. He pioneered methods for following polymer crystallization in real time, and then co-developed a new high speed scanning (videoAFM) approach which led to the launch of a spin-out company, Infinitesima Ltd. On moving to Sheffield in 2004 he started to collaborate widely with biologists, as well as further developing AFM approaches for high speed and high resolution imaging. His work is now focused on the development and application of AFM for imaging living systems, in particular bacteria, plants and cancer.
Kristina Rusimova
I am an experimental physicist working at the intersection between nanoscience and photonics. In particular, I am interested in studying how light and matter interact on the atomic scale. I received an MSci in Physics with Nanotechnology from the University of Birmingham in 2012, followed by a PhD in atomic manipulation with the scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) from the University of Bath in 2016. Following a short postdoctoral position in photonics, I joined the Department of Physics at the University of Bath as an independent Prize Fellow in 2018 and as a tenured Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in 2021. In 2022 I was part of the team awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Faraday Division Horizon Prize for the discovery of chiroptical harmonic scattering. My work is now focused on looking for new understanding of the nanoscale physical processes that underpin light emission and single molecule reactions induced by the tip of an STM.
Amir Farokh Payam
Amir is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) at the School of Engineering at Ulster University. Prior to his current role, he has worked at the Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid, the Department of Physics at Durham University, and the Department of Engineering at the University of Bristol. During his career, he made contributions to the development of force reconstruction methods for dynamic AFM, multifrequency force microscopy, vortex dissipation microscopy for solid-liquid interface studies, microcantilever calibration, high-speed AFM studies of metallic surface fatigue, unravelling spatiotemporal transient dynamics at the nanoscale as well as development of wavelet-based AFM/KPFM.
Amir’s research group is dedicated to advancing atomic force microscopy techniques to enhance the imaging, characterization and quantification of nanoscale materials at both surface and subsurface levels. His research is supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Royal Society, and the Northern Ireland Department for Economy. He has been recognized with Ulster University’s Future Research Leader Award from the Faculty of Computing, Engineering, and the Built Environment, as well as the Future Research Leader Champion Award.
Julia Gorelik
I am Professor of Cellular Biophysics, within the Cardiovascular Science Division at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London. I dedicated my energy to advancing nanoscale non-contact imaging of living animal and human cells in culture. Primarily my work develops a variant of scanning probe microscope, scanning ion conductance microscope (SICM). Profiting from the fact that scanning probe in SICM is a nanopipette I introduced combination of SICM with ion channel recording. Also, I introduced the use of nanopipette for local delivery of drugs to cell surface, after acquisition of a topography image for better position the nanopipette in the region of interest. Another of my passions is mechanobiology, as SICM can measure mechanical parameters such as Young's modulus.
I have a long-standing interest in the heart, which led me to develop the SICM to measure contraction, rhythm and calcium dynamics of cardiomyocytes simultaneously, allowing the study arrhythmias and heart failure conditions on cultured heart cells. I built a SICM microscope combined it with fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) technique for study spatial distribution of beta-adrenoreceptors on the surface of the cardiomyocytes.
I am director of the Centre of Cellular Mechano-sensing and Functional Microscopy (CMFM) at Imperial College London. We are creating a collaborative environment in which state-of-the-art techniques, overarching scientific concepts and specialised knowledge are shared between experts in the fields of mechano-sensing, mechano-transduction and associated signalling pathways.
Joining the community with help me promote SICM and show its enormous potential in combination with other techniques; also, it will help to attract more interest in mechanical properties of cells, using different microscopic techniques.
Sarah Guerin
Dr Sarah Guerin graduated with a BSc in Applied Physics in 2015, going on to complete her PhD in piezoelectric biomolecular crystals in 2018. Her postdoctoral research was carried out in the modelling theme of SSPC, the Research Ireland Research Centre for Pharmaceuticals, in which she is now a funded investigator. She runs her research group, the Actuate Lab, in the Department of Chemical Sciences and Bernal Institute in the University of Limerick, Ireland. Her current team is made up of 7 PhD students and 5 postdoctoral researchers, with expertise in crystal engineering, molecular modelling, crystal growth, and electrical engineering. Her group uses SPM predominantly via Piezoresponse Force Microscopy, (PFM), to quantify the piezoelectric response of molecular crystals, leading to the discovery and design of multiple sustainable piezoelectric energy harvesters She has been awarded over €2.5M from Research Ireland and the European Research Council to work on both in-silico and ex-silico engineering of biomolecular crystals, for application areas in eco-friendly sensing and pharmaceuticals. She is Chair of the Users’ Council for the Irish Centre of High-End Computing (ICHEC). She has been awarded the British Association of Crystal Growth Young Scientist of the Year Award and is the 2023 Research Ireland Early Career Researcher of the Year.
George Heath
George is a University Academic Fellow at the University of Leeds, appointed across the School of Physics & Astronomy and the School of Biomedical Sciences. His current research group focuses on developing High-Speed Atomic Force Microscopy methods to study the structural dynamics of single biomolecules. Before starting his group, he held a postdoctoral position in New York with Prof. Simon Scheuring at Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University. George obtained his PhD in Physics from the University of Leeds in 2015. In 2023, George was awarded an EPSRC Open Fellowship to continue developing AFM methods.
Preksha Hooda
Preksha is a PhD student in the Pyne Lab at the University of Sheffield. Her work focuses on integrating high-resolution atomic force microscopy (AFM), optical tweezers, and HPLC to investigate how mRNA structure influences protein production. She aims to bridge structural and functional insights to accelerate the design and manufacturing of mRNA therapeutics.
Samuel Jarvis
I am a Senior Lecturer in Physics, Director of the Lancaster IsoLab, and head of Lancaster XPS. I lead the Atomic Imaging and Surface Science group at Lancaster University, where my research is driven by the desire to explore fundamental phenomena using atomic scale imaging and molecular assembly, and to address major challenges in translating functional 2D and 3D molecular materials into real-world environments. My research spans funded projects addressing fundamental surface science, molecular electronics, thermoelectric green energy materials, single atom catalysts, green hydrogen generation, and atomically engineered 2D materials.
Facilities available in our group include ultra-high vacuum (UHV) molecular deposition, solution self-assembly, 2D material fabrication, atomic force microscopy (AFM), nanomechanical and conductive AFM, UHV scanning tunnelling microscopy (UHV-STM), non-contact atomic force microscopy (ncAFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and X-ray standing wave studies (XSW) at the national Diamond Light Source synchrotron facility.
Vladimir Korolkov
Ioanna Mela
Ioanna Mela is a Research associate in the Laser Analytics Group, in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge. Ioanna has worked with high-speed and conventional atomic force microscopy (AFM) and she is currently developing and using correlative imaging platforms such as AFM/SIM, AFM/STED and AFM/FLIM. Her research interests are focused on developing DNA nanostructures that can specifically interact with bacterial targets while carrying active antimicrobials and she is bringing together different microscopy techniques to understand, characterise and quantify those interactions, with the view to develop antimicrobial drug delivery vehicles.
David Morgan
David is the Technical Sales Manager at Nanosurf’s UK office, which covers the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia. Nanosurf manufacturers next level Scanning Probe Microscopes (SPM) for research, quality control and educational purposes. David has an MChem degree in Chemistry from the University of Oxford and worked there on research projects inducing crystal formation inside carbon nanotubes, electrical and electrochemical measurements of nanoscale polymer junctions and their use in the synthesis of glucose biosensors. David then spent 11 years at Windsor Scientific, initially as a development scientist working on their combined AFM/SECM system and eventually being responsible for sales and technical support of their range of surface science instruments including AFM systems, 3D optical profilers and nanoindenters. He joined Nanosurf in 2018 as they expand their worldwide presence.
Wei-Feng Xue
Dr Wei-Feng Xue has a first degree in chemical engineering and a PhD in physical chemistry. He joined the School of Biosciences at the University of Kent in 2011, setting up a highly interdisciplinary laboratory focused on the fundamental molecular mechanisms of protein folding, assembly, interactions, and aggregation into amyloid and prions, as well as fundamental AFM software and technology development using combined theory and experimental approaches. He has a long-standing experience and expertise in working with images, and he is The Royal Society of Biology photographer of the year in 2011, The Royal Society Photography Competition Runner-up in 2017, as well as a Wellcome Images contributor. Before moving to the University of Kent, Dr Wei-Feng Xue received his PhD degree in Physical Chemistry working on research regarding protein-protein, protein-ligand and allosteric interactions in Professor Sara Linse’s group at Lund University in Sweden in 2006. He then went on to become a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Professor Sheena Radford FRS at the Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology at the University of Leeds 2006-2011 on research topics concerning the mechanism and the biological impact of amyloid assembly. His current research interests include supramolecular protein assembly, protein folding and misfolding, amyloid and prions, and AFM imaging.
Gleb Yakubov
AGM
The 2026 Annual General Meeting of the AFM & other Scanning Probe Microscopies Section of the Royal Microscopical Society will take place on Wednesday 30 September 2026 at 13:05 during the Microscopy: Advances, Innovation, Impact 2026 Meeting.
All the Society’s AGMs are free to attend for both members and non-members.