Ultra-Large Scale Stitchless AFM: Advancing Nanoscale Characterization and Manipulation with Zero Stitching Error and High Throughput.

The atomic force microscopy (AFM) is an important tool capable of characterization, measurement, and manipulation at the nanoscale with a vertical resolution of less than 0.1 nm. However, the conventional AFMs' scanning range is around 100 µm, which limits their capability for processing cross-scale samples. In this study, it proposes a novel approach to overcome this limitation with an ultra-large scale stitchless AFM (ULSS-AFM) that allows for the high-throughput characterization of an area of up to 1 × 1 mm2 through a synergistic integration with a compliant nano-manipulator (CNM). Specifically, the compact CNM provides planar motion with nanoscale precision and millimeter range for the sample, while the probe of the ULSS-AFM interacts with the sample. Experimental results show that the proposed ULSS-AFM performs effectively in different scanning ranges under various scanning modes, resolutions, and frequencies. Compared with the conventional AFMs, the approach enables high-throughput characterization of ultra-large scale samples without stitching or bow errors, expanding the scanning area of conventional AFMs by two orders of magnitude. This advancement opens up important avenues for cross-scale scientific research and industrial applications in nano- and microscale.