The ultimate goal for local imaging and spectroscopy
techniques is to measure and correlate structure-property
relationships with functionality - by evaluating chemical,
electronic, optical, and phonon properties of individual
atomic and nanometer-sized structural elements [1]. If
available directly, the information of the structureproperty
correlations at the single molecule, bond, or
defect levels enables theoretical models to accurately
guide materials scientists and engineers to optimally use
materials at any length scale, as well as allow for the direct
verification of fundamental and phenomenological physical
models and direct extraction of the associated parameters.
Particularly significant challenges are offered by spatially
inhomogeneous, partially ordered, and disordered systems,
ranging from spin glasses [2,3] and ferroelectric
relaxors [4,5], to solid-electrolyte interface (SEI) layers in
batteries [6] and amorphized layers in fuel cells[7,8], to
organic and biological materials. These systems offer a
triple challenge: defining relevant local chemical and physical
descriptors, probing their spatial distribution, and
exploring their evolution in dynamic temperature, light,
and chemical and electrochemical reaction processes.
While complex, recent progress in information and application
[9] of statistics suggest that such descriptions are
possible; the challenge is to visualize and explore the data
in ways that allow decoupling of various local dynamics
under external physical and chemical stimuli.
Ideally, complete studies have to be performed as a
function of global stimuli, such as temperature or uniform