1. Dynamic Force Microscopy and Spectroscopy using the Frequency-Modulation Technique in Air and Liquids.- 2. Colossal Permittivity in Advanced Functional Heterogeneous Materials: The Relevance of the Local Measurements at Submicron Scale.- 3. Scanning Probe Alloying Nanolithography.- 4. Controlling Wear on Nanoscale.- 5. Structural and Mechanical Mechanisms of Ocular Tissues Probed by AFM.- 6. Modern Atomic Force Microscopy and Its Application to the Study of Genome Architecture.- 7. Near-field Nanolitography.- 8. Photonic Force Microscopy: From Femtonewton Force Sensing to Ultra-Sensitive Spectroscopy.- 9. Simultaneous Topography and Recognition Imaging.- 10. Application of Contact Mode AFM to Manufacturing Processes.- 11. Mechanical Properties of One-dimensional Nanostructures.- 12. Contact Potential Difference Techniques as Probing Tools in Tribology and Surface Mapping.- 13. Force-extension (FX) and Force-clamp (FC) AFM Spectroscopies in Investigating Mechanochemical Reactions and Mechanical properties of Single Biomolecules.- 14. Scanning Probe Microscopy as a Tool Applied to Agriculture.- 15. Spin Charge Pairing Instabilities, Magnetism and Ferroelectricity in Nanoclusters, High-Tc Cuprates, Manganites and Multiferroic Nanomaterials.- 16. Combining Atomic Force Microscopy and Depth Sensing Instruments for the Nanometre Scale Mechanical Characterization of Soft Matter.- 17. Structuring the Surface of Crystallizable Polymers with an AFM Tip.- 18. Polarization-sensitive Tip-enhanced Raman Scattering.- 19. Static and Dynamic Structural Modeling Analysis of Atomic Force Microscope.- 20. Carbon Nanotube Atomic Force Microscopy with Applications to Biology and Electronics.- 21. Multilevel Experimental and Modelling Techniques for Bioartificial Scaffolds and Matrices.- 22. A New AFM Based Lithography Method: ThermoChemical NanoLithography.- 23. Novel Strategies to Probe the Fluid Properties and Revealing its Hidden Elasticity.- 24. Electrostatic Force Microscopy and Kelvin Force Microscopy as a Probe of the Electrostatic and Electronic Properties of Carbon Nanotubes.- 25. Quantized Mechanics of Nanotubes and Bundles.- 26. Experimental Methods for the Calibration of Lateral Forces in Atomic Force Microscopy.

Nature is the best example of a system functioning on the nanometer scale, wherethematerialsinvolved,energyconsumption,anddatahandlingareop- mized. Opening the doors to the nanoworld, the emergence of the scanning tunneling microscope in 1982 and the atomic force microscope in 1986 led to a shift of paradigmin the understanding and perception of matter at its most fundamentallevel. As aconsequence,newrevolutionaryconceptsstimulateda number of new technologies. The current volume Scanning Probe Methods in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology showsthat these methods arestill making a tremendous impact on many disciplines that range from fundamental physics andchemistry throughinformationtechnology,spintronics,quantumcomp- ing, and molecular electronics, all the way to life sciences. Indeed, over 6,000 AFM-related papers were published in 2008 alone, bringing the total to more than 70,000 since its invention, according to the web of science, and the STM has inspired a total of 20,000 papers. There are also more than 500 patents related to the various forms of scanning probe microscopes. Commerciali- tion of the technology started at the end of the 1980s, and approximately 12,000 commercial systems have been sold so far to customers in areas as diverse as fundamental research,the car industry, and even the fashion ind- try. There are also a signi?cant number of home-built systems in operation. Some60-80companiesareinvolvedinmanufacturingSPMandrelatedinst- ments. Indeed, not even the sky seems to be the limit for AFM technology. TheRosettamissiontocomet67Plaunchedbythe EuropeanSpaceAgencyin 2004 includes an AFM in its MIDAS (Micro-Imaging Dust Analysis System) instrument.