Scanning Probe Microscopy refers to the group of techniques that map surface properties of materials by rastering a solid state probe very near to a sample surface. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) are the most well known SPM techniques and serve as the bases for many others. The SPM probe can be an atomically sharp metal tip, a pyramidal tipped silicon cantilever, a macroscopic magnetoresistive sensor, etc. These technologies contrast various electron microscopies in that they do not use electron optics or high energy focussing and probing techniques.

In materials science and technology, SPM techniques offer a variety of advantages. Minimal sample preparation, nondestructive probing, straightforward results, atomic resolution in many instances, and the ability to sense different properties are just a few. The development of SPM instruments that operate in ultrahigh vacuum, at low or high temperature, in large magnetic fields, in liquids, and other unique environments are making SPM a very useful, and often the preferred, technique for materials characterization.