Metals

Metals are versatile components of modern technical products. As sheet metal or in foamed form, they are used for example in car bodies. When deposited as thin layers, they are also used on glass, in the semiconductor industry, electronics or in the life science sector. Analytical issues related to the detection of metals range from the characterization of adsorbed substances to the investigation of grain boundaries. Further typical analytical questions are:

• identification of residues of the rolling process
• detection of adsorbates and trace impurities
• investigation of diffusion at interfaces or along grain boundaries
• investigation of surface treatments (passivation, layer deposition, phosphating, ...)
• corrosion of metal layers
• analysis of surface topographies
• determination of layer thicknesses
• determination of the oxidation state
• identification of material inclusions
• discoloration, ...