Within the last four decades, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been further developed to probe - beyond morphology - a broad variety of physical properties of surfaces on the nanometer scale. In this talk, I will review recent results obtained in the scanning probe microscopy Group at the Montanuniversitaet Leoben, the Austrian School of Mines. This will include Friction Force Microscopy measurements on two-dimensional (2D) materials ^[1] (left illustration), Electrostatic Force Microscopy measurements in organic nanocrystals under illumination with polarized light ^[2] (right illustration), detection of 2D magnetism in ultrathin iron-rich phyllosilicates by Magnetic Force Microscopy ^[3], Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy measurements of natural waxes from plant and animal origin ^[4], and finally vector Piezoresponse Force Microscopy based investigation of polycrystalline lead zirconate titanate thin films ^[5].

Christian Teichert has been an Associate Professor in Materials Physics at University of Leoben since 2001. He studied Physics at Martin Luther University in Halle/S, Germany, completing a Ph.D. in 1992. In 1992/93 Teichert was a Postdoc with  an Alexander von Humboldt fellowship at Research Center Juelich, Germany. From 1993-1996 he was a Postdoc at UW Madison, U.S., and then from 1996/97 a Postdoc at Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, Halle, Germany. In 1997 Teichert became an Assistant Professor, at the University of Leoben, Austria. Research interests include Scanning Probe Microscopy,  self-organization of organic and inorganic semiconductor nanostructures; organic nanocrystals on two-dimensional substrates, two-dimensional magnetism, nanomechanical characterization of cellulose fibers. Teichert’s awards include the 2002 Gaede Prize of the German Vacuum Society. In 2010-2019 he was secretary, Chair and vice-chair of the Nanometer Structure Division of the International Union of Vacuum Science, Technology and Application (IUVSTA), and in 2023-2024 President of the Austrian Physical Society (ÖPG).

[1] B. Vasić, et al., “Molecules on rails: sliding and friction anisotropy of organic nanocrystals on two-dimensional materials”, Nanoscale 10 (2018) 18835. DOI: 10.1039/C8NR04865G | [2] A. Matković, et al., “Light-assisted charge propagation in networks of organic semiconductor crystallites on hexagonal boron nitride”, Adv. Funct. Mater. 29 (2019) 1903816. DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201903816 | [3] A. Matković, et al., “Iron-rich talc as air-stable platform for magnetic two-dimensional materials”, npj 2D Mat. Appl. 5 (2021) 94. DOI: 10.1038/s41699-021-00276-3 | [4] C.V. Irimia, et al., “Natural Waxes from Plant and Animal Origin as Dielectrics for Low-operating Voltage Organic Field Effect Transistors”, J. Mat. Chem. C 13 (2025) 14767. DOI: 10.1039/d5tc014919k | [5] M. Kratzer, et al., “Reconstruction of the domain orientation distribution function of polycrystalline PZT ceramics using vector piezoresponse force microscopy”, Sci. Rep. 8 (2018) 422. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-18843-4