Polymers have dominated materials technology over the last century and remain a major field despite emerging environmental and petroleum-supply-related problems. However, for a long time, covalent macromolecules were considered “fictive constituents of matter”. Scientific evidence supporting Staudinger’s hypothesis remained indirect as, for a long time, no real space observation of molecules and phenomena related to single molecules had been possible. This was changed by the widespread introduction and use of scanning probe techniques, in particular, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). In macromolecular nanoscience and nanotechnology and in polymer analysis and characterization, AFM and related techniques have become an enabling technology platform. We review major recent developments on the basis of a historical account and summarize some breakthrough results with a focus on single molecule imaging, molecular force measurements, and processes monitored at the molecular scale.

聚合物在上个世纪一直占据着材料技术的主导地位，尽管出现了与环境和石油供应相关的问题，但仍然是一个主要领域。然而，长期以来，共价大分子被认为是“物质的假想成分”。支持斯陶丁格假设的科学证据仍然是间接的，因为长期以来，不可能对分子和与单分子有关的现象进行真实的空间观察。扫描探针技术（尤其是原子力显微镜（AFM））的广泛引入和使用改变了这种情况。在大分子纳米科学和纳米技术以及聚合物分析和表征中，原子力显微镜和相关技术已成为一个使能的技术平台。