4. Outlook and developments

Over the last ten years, AFM-IR technology has made constant progress, both in terms of technology (instrument performance and capabilities) and potential applications in controlled environments (dry air, constant gas pressure). From an instrumental point of view, the greatest advances over the last 2 years have been: i) the development of chemical imaging using the oscillating mode (AFM tapping) to study small, fragile objects with poor surface adhesion, and ii) the possibility of polarization-resolved measurements...