Dr Yongtao Liu receives AFM & SPM Award
The RMS is very pleased to announce Dr Yongtao Liu as winner of the Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) & Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) Award for his outstanding and sustained contributions in the field.
Yongtao, who is currently based at the Center for Nanophase Materials Science at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (TN, USA), has made major advances in AI/ML-enabled automated and autonomous atomic force microscopy, fundamentally reshaping how AFM experiments are conceived and executed.
His work has transformed AFM from a predominantly manual characterisation technique into an AI/ML-powered, hypothesis-driven, theory-in-the-loop scientific instrument capable of autonomously uncovering new nanoscale physical phenomena.
Yongtao has introduced new experimental paradigms in AFM, enabling AFM experiments to adapt in real time, dynamically selecting measurement locations, modes, and parameters in response to emerging physical insight rather than relying on predefined experimental scripts. This represents a significant methodological advance in AFM.
His work has culminated in the development of AEcroscopy, a software–hardware framework that enables automated and autonomous AFM experimentation with Agentic AI–enabled control. AEcroscopy does not merely increase experimental throughput; rather, it redefines the role of AFM as an active participant in scientific discovery.
Beyond individual scientific contributions, Yongtao is also an internationally recognised leader within the AFM community. His publications are widely cited and have become reference points for researchers developing next-generation AFM methodologies, helping to establish best practice in automated and machine-learning-enabled microscopy.
He has given extensive invited presentations, including keynote talks, at major international conferences and institutions, and has contributed significantly to organizing symposia and workshops in advanced and autonomous microscopy.
Through the mentorship of postdoctoral researchers, visiting scholars, and students, he has also made a significant contribution to the training of the next generation of scanning probe microscopists.