Glass is a widely used material thanks to its
optical, mechanical and thermal properties.
These properties can be specifically tailored by
changing the chemical composition of the bulk
(doping) or surface (deposition of layers).
Therefore, the near surface composition is of
specific interest in many areas ranging from
product development to failure analysis.
This composition can reliably be probed using
Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS).
With dedicated instrumentation charging samples can be analyzed
but also layers of conductive materials on insulating substrates
can easily be addressed. Typical analysis tasks include the
identification of particle inclusions, detection of organic
contaminants, and layer elucidation of optical coatings.
Applications are not only restricted to highly sophisticated
optical or medical devices like laser lenses but also include all domestic and technical glasses.
and thermal properties.
These properties can be specifically tailored by
changing the chemical composition of the bulk
(doping) or surface (deposition of layers).
Therefore, the near surface composition is of
specific interest in many areas ranging from
product development to failure analysis. 