Off the grid : breaking the raster scan paradigm in 3 scanning probe microscopy by image reconstruction from 4 position sensor data 5 6

22 We present Sensor Inpainting, a new operation mode for scanning probe microscopy that 23 uses advanced image processing techniques to render images based on position sensor 24 data. Sensor Inpainting frees scanning probe microscopy from the paradigm of raster 25 scanning, the scan waveforms do not need to fall on a grid, and the scanner is no longer 26 required to be at a specific location at a given time for each data point. This drastically 27 reduces the engineering effort of position control and enables the use of scan waveforms 28 that are better suited for the high inertia nanopositioners of scanned probe microscopy. 29 While in raster scanning, typically only trace or retrace images are used for display, in 30 Archimedean spiral scans 100% of the data can be displayed and at least a twofold 31 increase in temporal or spatial resolution is achieved. In Sensor Inpainting, the sampling 32 rate and grid size of the final generated image are independent variables. Sampling data a 33 factor of two higher in the fast scan direction and displaying on a grid with around twice 34 as many pixels as samples produces the best representations of the data. 35 36 2