# Publications

$_{Yongtao}$ $_{Liu,}$
$_{liuy3@ornl.gov,}$ $_{youngtaoliu@gmail.com}$

$_{July}$ $_{2026}$

This chapter lists peer-reviewed publications and preprints on automated and autonomous microscopy that are built on, demonstrate, or are reproducible with AEcroscopy. The works span a range of topics including active learning, deep kernel learning, hypothesis-driven experimentation, agentic AI, and high-throughput characterization of ferroelectric and perovskite materials.

## 2026

**27.** [Narasimha, Ganesh, Ralph Bulanadi, Jawad Chowdhury, Rama Vasudevan, and Yongtao Liu. "Self-Driving Scanning Probe Microscopy: From Acceleration to Discovery and Manipulation." Accounts of Chemical Research (2026).](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.accounts.6c00273)

**26.** [Bulanadi, Ralph, et al. "Beyond Scalar Objectives: Expert-Feedback-Driven Autonomous Experimentation for Scientific Discovery at the Nanoscale." arXiv:2605.21820 (2026).](https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.21820)

**25.** [Chowdhury, Jawad, et al. "Quality-Controlled Active Learning via Gaussian Processes for Robust Structure-Property Learning in Autonomous Microscopy." arXiv:2603.29135 (2026).](https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.29135)

**24.** [Gong, Jiawei, et al. "Accelerating Structure-Property Relationship Discovery with Multimodal Machine Learning and Self-Driving Microscopy." arXiv:2603.17028 (2026).](https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.17028)

**23.** [Biswas, Arpan, Hiroshi Funakubo, and Yongtao Liu. "Human-AI Collaborative Autonomous Experimentation With Proxy Modeling for Comparative Observation." arXiv:2603.12618 (2026).](https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.12618)

## 2025

**22.** [Liu, Yongtao, et al. "Polarization Switching on the Open Surfaces of the Wurtzite Ferroelectric Nitrides: Ferroelectric Subsystems and Electrochemical Reactivity." Advanced Materials (2025).](https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/adma.202511001)

**21.** [Checa, Marti, et al. "Autonomous Multistate Nanoencoding Using Combinatorial Ferroelectric Closure Domains in BiFeO₃." ACS Nano (2025).](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsnano.5c07423)

**20.** [Bulanadi, Ralph, et al. "Beyond Optimization: Exploring Novelty Discovery in Autonomous Experiments." ACS Nanoscience Au (2025).](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acsnanoscienceau.5c00106)

**19.** [Pratiush, Utkarsh, et al. "Scientific Exploration with Expert Knowledge (SEEK) in Autonomous Scanning Probe Microscopy with Active Learning." Digital Discovery 4 (2025): 252–263.](https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2025/dd/d4dd00277f)

**18.** [Vatsavai, Aditya, et al. "Curiosity Driven Exploration to Optimize Structure-Property Learning in Microscopy." Digital Discovery 4 (2025): 2188–2197.](https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2025/dd/d5dd00119f)

**17.** [Biswas, Arpan, et al. "SANE: Strategic Autonomous Non-Smooth Exploration for Multiple Optima Discovery in Multi-Modal and Non-Differentiable Black-Box Functions." Digital Discovery 4 (2025): 853–867.](https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2024/dd/d4dd00299g)

**16.** [Bulanadi, Ralph, et al. "Auto-3DPFM: Automating Polarization-Vector Mapping at the Nanoscale." arXiv:2512.09249 (2025).](https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.09249)

## 2024

**15.** [Raghavan, Aditya, et al. "Evolution of Ferroelectric Properties in SmxBi1–xFeO3 via Automated Piezoresponse Force Microscopy across Combinatorial Spread Libraries." ACS Nano 18.37 (2024): 25591–25600.](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsnano.4c06380)

**14.** [Yang, J., et al. "Coexistence and Interplay of Two Ferroelectric Mechanisms in Zn₁₋ₓMgₓO." Advanced Materials (2024).](https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/adma.202404925)

**13.** [Checa, Marti, et al. "On-demand nanoengineering of in-plane ferroelectric topologies." Nature Nanotechnology (2024).](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-024-01792-1)

**12.** [Smith, Benjamin, et al. "Physics-informed models of domain wall dynamics as a route for autonomous domain wall design via reinforcement learning." Digital Discovery (2024).](https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2024/dd/d3dd00126a)

**11.** [Biswas, Arpan, et al. "A dynamic Bayesian optimized active recommender system for curiosity-driven Human-in-the-loop automated experiments." npj Computational Materials 10.1 (2024).](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41524-023-01191-5)

**10.** [Liu, Yongtao, et al. "Synergizing Human Expertise and AI Efficiency with Language Model for Microscopy Operation and Automated Experiment Design." arXiv:2401.13803 (2024).](https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.13803)

## 2023

**9.** [Liu, Yongtao, et al. "AEcroscopy: A software-hardware framework empowering microscopy toward automated and autonomous experimentation." arXiv:2312.10281 (2023).](https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.10281)

**8.** [Liu, Yongtao, et al. "Disentangling electronic transport and hysteresis at individual grain boundaries in hybrid perovskites via automated scanning probe microscopy." ACS Nano (2023).](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acsnano.3c03363)

**7.** [Liu, Yongtao, et al. "Learning the right channel in multimodal imaging: automated experiment in piezoresponse force microscopy." npj Computational Materials 9.1 (2023): 34.](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41524-023-00985-x)

**6.** [Liu, Yongtao, et al. "Exploring the Relationship of Microstructure and Conductivity in Metal Halide Perovskites via Active Learning-Driven Automated Scanning Probe Microscopy." The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 14.13 (2023): 3352–3359.](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c00223)

**5.** [Liu, Yongtao, et al. "Autonomous scanning probe microscopy with hypothesis learning: Exploring the physics of domain switching in ferroelectric materials." Patterns 4.3 (2023).](https://www.cell.com/patterns/pdf/S2666-3899(23)00041-7.pdf)

## 2022

**4.** [Liu, Yongtao, et al. "Experimental discovery of structure–property relationships in ferroelectric materials via active learning." Nature Machine Intelligence 4.4 (2022): 341–350.](https://www.nature.com/articles/s42256-022-00460-0)

**3.** [Ziatdinov, Maxim A., et al. "Hypothesis learning in automated experiment: application to combinatorial materials libraries." Advanced Materials 34.20 (2022): 2201345.](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/adma.202201345)

**2.** [Liu, Yongtao, et al. "Exploring physics of ferroelectric domain walls in real time: deep learning enabled scanning probe microscopy." Advanced Science 9.31 (2022): 2203957.](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/advs.202203957)

**1.** [Liu, Yongtao, et al. "Exploring leakage in dielectric films via automated experiments in scanning probe microscopy." Applied Physics Letters 120.18 (2022).](https://pubs.aip.org/aip/apl/article/120/18/182903/2833638)