Surface analysis

It is important to quickly locate the cause of the problem during production disturbances. A combination of surface chemical analysis and microscopy are often powerful tools to find the source of the disturbance.
Contact any of us for choosing the right analysis technology:
 
Magnus Palm, magnus.palm@sp.se, +46 10 516 53 42
Peter Sjövall, peter.sjovall@sp.se, +46 10 516 52 99
Anders Larsson, anders.larsson@yki.se, +46 10 516 60 60
 
Do you already know the technology to be used, see contactpersons below:
 
ESCA
  • Elemental composition at the coating-air surface.
  • Vertical mapping of elemental composition using cross-sectioned (microtomed) coatings.

Contaktperson: Marie Ernstsson, marie.ernstsson@yki.se, +46 10 516 60 43

ToF-SIMS
  • An extremely surface-sensitive instrument for detection of both elements and chemical compounds.
  • Distribution of compounds on the surface, mapping, with a resolution of less than 1 micrometer.

Contactperson: Peter Sjövall, peter.sjovall@sp.se, +46 10 516 52 99

Light Microscopy
  • Gives 2-dimensional images of surfaces (maximum 100x enlargement).

Contact person: Anders Larsson, anders.larsson@yki.se, +46 10 516 60 60

Profilometry
  • Gives 3-dimensional images of surfaces. The vertical resolution is about 1 nm and the lateral resolution is about 1 micrometer. Maximum image size is 1 cm x 1 cm.

Contact person: Anders Larsson, anders.larsson@yki.se, +46 10 516 60 60

Electron Microscopy, ESEM-EDX, SEM-EDX
  • Gives 2-dimensional images of surfaces, with very high resolution (maximum 50 000x enlargement).
  • Point analysis of elemental composition can be conducted with the EDX detector.
  • Plastic surfaces and coatings can be studied without sputtering with metals via the low-vacuum or ESEM mode.

Contact person: Anders Larsson, anders.larsson@yki.se, +46 10 516 60 60

AFM
  • Gives 3-dimensional images of small areas (10 mm x 10 mm).
  • Useful to characterise migration of low-molecular weight components to the surface.

Contact person: Anders Larsson, anders.larsson@surfchem.kth.se, +46 10 516 60 60

FT-IR
  • With ATR (Attenuated Total Reflection) the analysis is limited to the outermost surface layer, a few micrometer thin, of a sample.

Contactperson: Kenneth Möller, kenneth.moller@sp.se, +46 10 516 51 88

UV-VIS-NIR
  • Gives information on transmittance, absorbance and reflectance in the wavelengts of 200-2500 nanometer.

Contactperson: Kenneth Möller, kenneth.moller@sp.se, +46 10 516 51 88

ICP-MS
  •  With laser-ablation technique the elemental composition of surfaces can be analyzed with high sensitivity.

Contactperson: Conny Haraldsson, conny.haraldsson@sp.se, +46 10 516 56 65

Related Information

Contact Persons

Magnus Palm

Phone: +46 10 516 53 42

SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, Box 857, SE-501 15 Borås Phone +46 10-516 50 00, E-mail info@sp.se