Characterization (materials science)

In particular the advent of the electron microscope and secondary ion mass spectrometry in the 20th century has revolutionized the field, allowing the imaging and analysis of structures and compositions on much smaller scales than was previously possible, leading to a huge increase in the level of understanding as to why different materials show different properties and behaviors.

[4] More recently, atomic force microscopy has further increased the maximum possible resolution for analysis of certain samples in the last 30 years.

[5] Microscopy is a category of characterization techniques which probe and map the surface and sub-surface structure of a material.

These techniques can use photons, electrons, ions or physical cantilever probes to gather data about a sample's structure on a range of length scales.

Some common examples of microscopy techniques include: Spectroscopy is a category of characterization techniques which use a range of principles to reveal the chemical composition, composition variation, crystal structure and photoelectric properties of materials.

A micrograph of bronze revealing a cast dendritic structure
The characterization technique optical microscopy showing the micron scale dendritic microstructure of a bronze alloy
Optical microscopy image of aluminium
Image of a graphite surface at an atomic level obtained by an STM
First X-ray diffraction view of Martian soil - CheMin analysis reveals feldspar, pyroxenes, olivine and more (Curiosity rover at "Rocknest", October 17, 2012). [ 6 ]
X-ray powder diffraction of Y 2 Cu 2 O 5 and Rietveld refinement with two phases, showing 1% of yttrium oxide impurity (red tickers)
PAC probing the local structure by using radioactive nuclei. From the pattern, electric field gradients are obtained that resolve the structure around the radioactive atom, in order to study phase transitions, defects, diffusion.
(a) effective refractive indexes and (b) absorption coefficients of integrated circuits obtained via terahertz spectroscopy [ 9 ]