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View inside vacuum chamber of XPS and AES guns, detector systems and sample stage.

Physical and chemical analysis of the surface of materials is vital for understanding how they interact with the process environment or at the interface between two different materials in contact.

Surface analytical techniques provide the tools to explore the surface and subsurface chemistry of solid materials.

At LPD Laboratory Services our skilled staff have an ideal range of surface analysis techniques to address your particular problem. Any analytical request or process problem will be assessed before choosing the appropriate technique, or range of techniques, together with the ideal sample preparation method to achieve a fast turnaround of results and practical interpretation.

Click on the links below for details about the different surface techniques:-

		XPS / ESCA - X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy offers elemental and chemical state information as well as chemical depth profiling of sample surfaces.

		SIMS - Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry provides elemental, isotope and molecular surface information, physical imaging (SEM) and rapid chemical imaging coupled with a very high sample throughput.

		AES / SAM - Auger Electron Spectroscopy and Scanning Auger Microscopy provides 'point and shoot' surface chemical information and chemical depth profiling. SEM images and the corresponding chemical images also can be collected.

		Contact Angle and Surface Wetting Characteristics Surface chemistry and wetting characteristics of liquids and solids determine the performance of chemicals, surfactants, coatings, adhesives, powders and solid substrates.  They can be quantitatively compared by contact angle measurements using optical contact angle measurements and tensionmeter tests.

Links to other sites:-

• www.uksaf.org/home.html - UK Surface Analysis User Forum
• www.chem.qmw.ac.uk/surfaces/scc/ - Introduction to Surface Chemistry tutorial