Photo-induced force microscopy began as a concept in the mind of Kumar Wickramasinghe when he was employed by IBM in the early years of the new millennium. After he came to the University of California, Irvine in 2006, the concept evolved into an invention that would revolutionize research by enabling scientists to study the fundamental characteristics of matter at nanoscale resolution.

Since the earliest experimental uses of PiFM around 2010, the device, which reveals the chemical composition and spatial organization of materials at the molecular level, has become a tool of choice for researchers in fields as diverse as biology, geology, materials science and even advanced electronics manufacturing.

“This is the story of a technology that was inspired by work at IBM, was invented and developed at UC Irvine, then got spun off, and now we have instruments on all continents across the world except for Antarctica,” says Wickramasinghe, Henry Samueli Endowed Chair and Distinguished Professor emeritus of electrical engineering and computer science who now holds the title of UC Irvine Distinguished Research Professor. “Almost anywhere serious research is happening, there are people out there who are using PiFM to discover new things.”