This is a list of analysis methods used in materials science. Analysis methods are listed by their acronym, if one exists.

Symbols

* μSR – see

muon spin spectroscopy Muon spin spectroscopy, also known as µSR, is an experimental technique based on the implantation of spin-polarized muons in matter and on the detection of the influence of the atomic, molecular or crystalline surroundings on their spin motion. ...

* χ – see magnetic susceptibility

A

* AAS –

Atomic absorption spectroscopy Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) and atomic emission spectroscopy (AES) is a spectroanalytical procedure for the quantitative determination of chemical elemlight) by free atoms in the gaseous state. Atomic absorption spectroscopy is based o ...

* AED – Auger electron diffraction * AES – Auger electron spectroscopy * AFM – Atomic force microscopy * AFS – Atomic fluorescence spectroscopy *

Analytical ultracentrifugation Analytical ultracentrifugation is an analytical technique which combines an ultracentrifuge with optical monitoring systems. In an analytical ultracentrifuge (commonly abbreviated as AUC), a sample’s sedimentation profile is monitored in real tim ...

* APFIM – Atom probe field ion microscopy * APS – Appearance potential spectroscopy * ARPES –

Angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) is an experimental technique used in condensed matter physics to probe the allowed energies and momenta of the electrons in a material, usually a crystalline solid. It is based on the photoelec ...

* ARUPS – Angle resolved ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy * ATR –

Attenuated total reflectance Attenuated total reflection (ATR) is a sampling technique used in conjunction with infrared spectroscopy which enables samples to be examined directly in the solid or liquid state without further preparation. ATR uses a property of total inter ...

B

* BET – BET surface area measurement (BET from Brunauer, Emmett, Teller) * BiFC –

Bimolecular fluorescence complementation Bimolecular fluorescence complementation (also known as BiFC) is a technology typically used to validate protein interactions. It is based on the association of fluorescent protein fragments that are attached to components of the same macromolec ...

* BKD – Backscatter Kikuchi diffraction, see

EBSD Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) is a scanning electron microscope–based microstructural-crystallography, crystallographic characterization technique commonly used in the study of crystalline or crystallite, polycrystalline materials. T ...

* BRET – Bioluminescence resonance energy transfer * BSED – Back scattered electron diffraction, see

C

* CAICISS –

Coaxial impact collision ion scattering spectroscopy In geometry, coaxial means that several three-dimensional linear or planar forms share a common axis. The two-dimensional analog is ''concentric''. Common examples: A coaxial cable is a three-dimensional linear structure. It has a wire condu ...

* CARS –

Coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy Coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy, also called Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering spectroscopy (CARS), is a form of spectroscopy used primarily in chemistry, physics and related fields. It is sensitive to the same vibrational signatures of ...

* CBED – Convergent beam electron diffraction * CCM – Charge collection microscopy * CDI – Coherent diffraction imaging * CE –

Capillary electrophoresis Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is a family of electrokinetic separation methods performed in submillimeter diameter capillaries and in micro- and nanofluidic channels. Very often, CE refers to capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE), but other elect ...

* CET – Cryo-electron tomography * CL –

Cathodoluminescence Cathodoluminescence is an optical and electromagnetic phenomenon in which electrons impacting on a luminescent material such as a phosphor, cause the emission of photons which may have wavelengths in the visible spectrum. A familiar example is ...

* CLSM –

Confocal laser scanning microscopy Confocal microscopy, most frequently confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) or laser confocal scanning microscopy (LCSM), is an optical imaging technique for increasing optical resolution and contrast of a micrograph by means of using a sp ...

* COSY –

Correlation spectroscopy Two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (2D NMR) is a set of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) methods which give data plotted in a space defined by two frequency axes rather than one. Types of 2D NMR include correlation ...

* Cryo-EM –

Cryo-electron microscopy Cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is a cryomicroscopy technique applied on samples cooled to cryogenic temperatures. For biological specimens, the structure is preserved by embedding in an environment of vitreous ice. An aqueous sample s ...

* Cryo-SEM –

Cryo-scanning electron microscopy Scanning electron cryomicroscopy (CryoSEM) is a form of electron microscopy where a hydrated but cryogenically fixed sample is imaged on a scanning electron microscope's cold stage in a cryogenic chamber. The cooling is usually achieved with liqu ...

* CV –

Cyclic voltammetry Cyclic voltammetry (CV) is a type of potentiodynamic electrochemical measurement. In a cyclic voltammetry experiment, the working electrode potential is ramped linearly versus time. Unlike in linear sweep voltammetry, after the set potential is r ...

D

* DE(T)A –

Dielectric thermal analysis Dielectric thermal analysis (DETA), or dielectric analysis (DEA), is a materials science technique similar to dynamic mechanical analysis except that an oscillating electrical field is used instead of a mechanical force. For investigation of the c ...

* dHvA – De Haas–van Alphen effect * DIC –

Differential interference contrast microscopy Differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy, also known as Nomarski interference contrast (NIC) or Nomarski microscopy, is an optical microscopy technique used to enhance the contrast in unstained, transparent samples. DIC works on the p ...

Dielectric spectroscopy Dielectric spectroscopy (which falls in a subcategory of impedance spectroscopy) measures the dielectric properties of a medium as a function of frequency.Kremer F., Schonhals A., Luck W. Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy. – Springer-Verlag, 200 ...

* DLS –

Dynamic light scattering Dynamic light scattering (DLS) is a technique in physics that can be used to determine the size distribution profile of small particles in suspension or polymers in solution. In the scope of DLS, temporal fluctuations are usually analyzed using ...

* DLTS – Deep-level transient spectroscopy * DMA –

Dynamic mechanical analysis Dynamic mechanical analysis (abbreviated DMA) is a technique used to study and characterize materials. It is most useful for studying the viscoelastic behavior of polymers. A sinusoidal stress is applied and the strain in the material is measured, ...

* DPI –

Dual polarisation interferometry Dual-polarization interferometry (DPI) is an analytical technique that probes molecular layers adsorbed to the surface of a waveguide using the evanescent wave of a laser beam. It is used to measure the conformational change in proteins, or othe ...

* DRS – Diffuse reflection spectroscopy * DSC – Differential scanning calorimetry * DTA –

Differential thermal analysis Differential thermal analysis (DTA) is a thermoanalytic technique that is similar to differential scanning calorimetry. In DTA, the material under study and an inert reference are made to undergo identical thermal cycles, (i.e., same cooling or ...

* DVS – Dynamic vapour sorption

E

* EBIC –

Electron beam induced current Electron-beam-induced current (EBIC) is a semiconductor analysis technique performed in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) or scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM). It is used to identify buried junctions or defects in semiconductor ...

(see IBIC: ion beam induced charge) * EBS – Elastic (non-Rutherford) backscattering spectrometry (see RBS) * EBSD – Electron backscatter diffraction * ECOSY –

Exclusive correlation spectroscopy Exclusive correlation spectroscopy (ECOSY) is an NMR Correlation spectroscopy, correlation experiment introduced by O. W. Sørensen, Christian Griesinger, Richard R. Ernst and coworkers for the accurate measurement of small J-couplings. The idea ...

* ECT – Electrical capacitance tomography * EDAX – Energy-dispersive analysis of x-rays * EDMR –

Electrically detected magnetic resonance Electrically detected magnetic resonance (EDMR) is a Characterization (materials science), materials characterisation technique that improves upon electron spin resonance. It involves measuring the change in electrical resistance of a sample when e ...

, see ESR or EPR * EDS or EDX –

Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS, EDX, EDXS or XEDS), sometimes called energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA or EDAX) or energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDXMA), is an analytical technique used for the elemental analysis or chemi ...

* EELS –

Electron energy loss spectroscopy In electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) a material is exposed to a beam of electrons with a known, narrow range of kinetic energies. Some of the electrons will undergo inelastic scattering, which means that they lose energy and have their pa ...

* EFTEM –

Energy filtered transmission electron microscopy Energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) is a technique used in transmission electron microscopy, in which only electrons of particular kinetic energies are used to form the image or diffraction pattern. The technique can be used to ...

* EID – Electron induced desorption * EIT and ERT – Electrical impedance tomography and

electrical resistivity tomography Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) or electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) is a geophysical technique for imaging sub-surface structures from electrical resistivity measurements made at the surface, or by electrodes in one or more borehole ...

* EL – Electroluminescence *

Electron crystallography Electron crystallography is a method to determine the arrangement of atoms in solids using a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Comparison with X-ray crystallography It can complement X-ray crystallography for studies of very small crystals ...

* ELS –

Electrophoretic light scattering Electrophoretic light scattering (also known as laser Doppler electrophoresis and phase analysis light scattering ) is based on dynamic light scattering. The frequency shift or phase (waves), phase shift of an incident laser beam depends on the dis ...

* ENDOR –

Electron nuclear double resonance Electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) is a magnetic resonance technique for elucidating the molecular and electronic structure of paramagnetic species.Kevan, L and Kispert, L. D. ''Electron Spin Double Resonance Spectroscopy'' Interscience: New ...

, see ESR or EPR * EPMA – Electron probe microanalysis * EPR –

Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) or electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy is a method for studying materials that have unpaired electrons. The basic concepts of EPR are analogous to those of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), but the spin ...

* ERD or ERDA –

Elastic recoil detection Elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA), also referred to as forward recoil scattering (or, contextually, spectrometry), is an ion beam analysis technique in materials science to obtain elemental concentration depth profiles in thin films. This ...

or elastic recoil detection analysis * ESCA – Electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis see XPS * ESD – Electron stimulated desorption * ESEM – Environmental scanning electron microscopy * ESI-MS or ES-MS – Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry or electrospray mass spectrometry * ESR – Electron spin resonance spectroscopy * ESTM – Electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy * EXAFS –

Extended X-ray absorption fine structure Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), along with X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES), is a subset of X-ray absorption spectroscopy ( XAS). Like other absorption spectroscopies, XAS techniques follow Beer's law. The X-ray a ...

* EXSY – Exchange spectroscopy

F

* FCS –

Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) is a statistical analysis, via time correlation, of stationary fluctuations of the fluorescence intensity. Its theoretical underpinning originated from L. Onsager's regression hypothesis. The analysis p ...

* FCCS –

Fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy Fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy (FCCS) is a Spectroscopy, spectroscopic technique that examines the interactions of fluorescent particles of different colours as they randomly diffuse through a microscopic detection volume over time, und ...

* FEM – Field emission microscopy * FIB –

Focused ion beam Focused ion beam, also known as FIB, is a technique used particularly in the semiconductor industry, materials science and increasingly in the biological field for site-specific analysis, deposition, and ablation of materials. A FIB setup is a s ...

microscopy * FIM-AP –

Field ion microscopy The Field ion microscope (FIM) was invented by Müller in 1951. It is a type of microscope that can be used to image the arrangement of atoms at the surface of a sharp metal tip. On October 11, 1955, Erwin Müller and his Ph.D. student, Kanwar ...

– atom probe * Flow birefringence *

Fluorescence anisotropy Fluorescence anisotropy or fluorescence polarization is the phenomenon where the light emitted by a fluorophore has unequal intensities along different axes of polarization. Early pioneers in the field include Aleksander Jablonski, Gregorio Web ...

* FLIM – Fluorescence lifetime imaging *

Fluorescence microscopy A fluorescence microscope is an optical microscope that uses fluorescence instead of, or in addition to, scattering, reflection, and attenuation or absorption, to study the properties of organic or inorganic substances. "Fluorescence microscop ...

* FOSPM – Feature-oriented scanning probe microscopy * FRET –

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, the emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore a lower photon energy, tha ...

* FRS – Forward Recoil Spectrometry, a synonym of ERD * FTICR or FT-MS –

Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry is a type of mass analyzer (or mass spectrometer) for determining the mass-to-charge ratio (''m''/''z'') of ions based on the cyclotron frequency of the ions in a fixed magnetic field. T ...

or Fourier-transform mass spectrometry * FTIR –

Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) is a technique used to obtain an infrared spectrum of absorption or emission of a solid, liquid, or gas. An FTIR spectrometer simultaneously collects high-resolution spectral data over a wide spectra ...

G

* GC-MS –

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma). A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...

* GDMS – Glow discharge mass spectrometry * GDOS –

Glow discharge optical spectroscopy A glow discharge is a plasma formed by the passage of electric current through a gas. It is often created by applying a voltage between two electrodes in a glass tube containing a low-pressure gas. When the voltage exceeds a value called the s ...

* GISAXS – Grazing incidence small angle X-ray scattering * GIXD –

Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction Grazing incidence X-ray and neutron diffraction, neutron diffraction (GID, GIXD, GIND), typically from a crystalline structure uses small incident angles for the incoming X-ray or neutron beam, so that diffraction can be made surface sensitive. It ...

* GIXR – Grazing incidence X-ray reflectivity * GLC –

Gas-liquid chromatography Gas chromatography (GC) is a common type of chromatography used in analytical chemistry for separating and analyzing compounds that can be vaporized without decomposition. Typical uses of GC include testing the purity of a particular substance, ...

H

* HAADF – High angle

annular dark-field imaging Annular dark-field imaging is a method of mapping samples in a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM). These images are formed by collecting scattered electrons with an annular dark-field detector. Conventional TEM dark-field imaging ...

* HAS –

Helium atom scattering Helium atom scattering (HAS) is a surface analysis technique used in materials science. HAS provides information about the surface structure and lattice dynamics of a material by measuring the diffracted atoms from a monochromatic helium beam incid ...

* HPLC –

High performance liquid chromatography High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), formerly referred to as high-pressure liquid chromatography, is a technique in analytical chemistry used to separate, identify, and quantify each component in a mixture. It relies on pumps to pa ...

* HREELS –

High resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy High resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS) is a tool used in surface science. The inelastic scattering of electrons from surfaces is utilized to study electronic excitations or vibrational modes of the surface of a material or of mo ...

* HREM – High-resolution electron microscopy * HRTEM –

High-resolution transmission electron microscopy High-resolution transmission electron microscopy is an imaging mode of specialized transmission electron microscopes that allows for direct imaging of the atomic structure of samples. It is a powerful tool to study properties of materials on the a ...

* HI-ERDA – Heavy-ion elastic recoil detection analysis * HE-PIXE – High-energy proton induced X-ray emission

I

* IAES –

Ion induced Auger electron spectroscopy file:HD.6C.037 (11856519893).jpg, A Hanford Site, Hanford scientist uses an Auger electron spectrometer to determine the elemental composition of surfaces. Auger electron spectroscopy (AES; pronounced in French) is a common analytical technique us ...

* IBA – Ion beam analysis * IBIC – Ion beam induced charge microscopy * ICP-AES –

Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), also referred to as inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), is an analytical technique used for the detection of chemical elements. It is a type of emiss ...

* ICP-MS –

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is a type of mass spectrometry that uses an inductively coupled plasma to ionize the sample. It atomizes the sample and creates atomic and small polyatomic ions, which are then detected. It is ...

* Immunofluorescence * ICR –

Ion cyclotron resonance Ion cyclotron resonance is a phenomenon related to the movement of ions in a magnetic field. It is used for accelerating ions in a cyclotron, and for measuring the masses of an ionized analyte in mass spectrometry, particularly with Fourier transfo ...

* IETS –

Inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy Inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy (IETS) is an experimental tool for studying the vibrations of molecular adsorbates on metal oxides. It yields vibrational spectra of the adsorbates with high resolution (< 0.5 meV) and high sensi ...

* IGA – Intelligent gravimetric analysis * IGF – Inert gas fusion * IIX – Ion induced X-ray analysis, see

particle induced X-ray emission Particle-induced X-ray emission or proton-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) is a technique used for determining the Chemical element, elemental composition of a material or a sample. When a material is exposed to an ion beam, atomic interactions occur ...

* INS – Ion neutralization spectroscopy *

Inelastic neutron scattering Neutron scattering, the irregular dispersal of free neutrons by matter, can refer to either the naturally occurring physical process itself or to the man-made experimental techniques that use the natural process for investigating materials. Th ...

* IRNDT – Infrared non-destructive testing of materials * IRS –

Infrared spectroscopy Infrared spectroscopy (IR spectroscopy or vibrational spectroscopy) is the measurement of the interaction of infrared radiation with matter by absorption, emission, or reflection. It is used to study and identify chemical substances or function ...

* ISS – Ion scattering spectroscopy * ITC –

Isothermal titration calorimetry Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) is a physical technique used to determine the thermodynamic parameters of interactions in solution. It is most often used to study the binding of small molecules (such as medicinal compounds) to larger macro ...

* IVEM –

Intermediate voltage electron microscopy An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of accelerated electrons as a source of illumination. As the wavelength of an electron can be up to 100,000 times shorter than that of visible light photons, electron microscopes have a hi ...

L

* LALLS –

Low-angle laser light scattering Low-angle laser light scattering or LALLS is an application of light scattering that is particularly useful in conjunction with the technique of Size exclusion chromatography, one of the most powerful and widely used techniques to study the molecul ...

* LC-MS –

Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry A liquid is a nearly incompressible fluid that conforms to the shape of its container but retains a (nearly) constant volume independent of pressure. As such, it is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, gas, a ...

* LEED –

Low-energy electron diffraction Low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) is a technique for the determination of the surface structure of single-crystalline materials by bombardment with a collimated beam of low-energy electrons (30–200 eV) and observation of diffracted el ...

* LEEM – Low-energy electron microscopy * LEIS – Low-energy ion scattering * LIBS –

Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a type of atomic emission spectroscopy which uses a highly energetic laser pulse as the excitation source. The laser is focused to form a plasma, which atomizes and excites samples. The formation of ...

* LOES –

Laser optical emission spectroscopy A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The firs ...

* LS – Light (Raman) scattering

M

* MALDI –

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization In mass spectrometry, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) is an ionization technique that uses a laser energy absorbing matrix to create ions from large molecules with minimal fragmentation. It has been applied to the analysis of ...

* MBE –

Molecular beam epitaxy Molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) is an epitaxy method for thin-film deposition of single crystals. MBE is widely used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices, including transistors, and it is considered one of the fundamental tools for the devel ...

* MEIS – Medium energy ion scattering * MFM – Magnetic force microscopy * MIT – Magnetic induction tomography * MPM – Multiphoton fluorescence microscopy * MRFM –

Magnetic resonance force microscopy Magnetic resonance force microscopy (MRFM) is an imaging technique that acquires magnetic resonance images (MRI) at nanometer scales, and possibly at atomic scales in the future. MRFM is potentially able to observe protein structures which cannot b ...

* MRI – Magnetic resonance imaging * MS – Mass spectrometry * MS/MS –

Tandem mass spectrometry Tandem mass spectrometry, also known as MS/MS or MS2, is a technique in instrumental analysis where two or more mass analyzers are coupled together using an additional reaction step to increase their abilities to analyse chemical samples. A com ...

* MSGE –

Mechanically stimulated gas emission Mechanically Stimulated Gas Emission Phenomenology Mechanically stimulated gas emission (MSGE) is a complex phenomenon embracing various physical and chemical processes occurring on the surface and in the bulk of a solid under applied mechanical ...

Mössbauer spectroscopy Mössbauer spectroscopy is a spectroscopic technique based on the Mössbauer effect. This effect, discovered by Rudolf Mössbauer (sometimes written "Moessbauer", German: "Mößbauer") in 1958, consists of the nearly recoil-free emission and abs ...

* MTA –

Microthermal analysis Microthermal analysis is a materials characterization technique which combines the thermal analysis principles of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) with high spatial resolution of scanning probe microscopy. The instrument consists of a therma ...

N

* NAA – Neutron activation analysis * ND –

Neutron diffraction Neutron diffraction or elastic neutron scattering is the application of neutron scattering to the determination of the atomic and/or magnetic structure of a material. A sample to be examined is placed in a beam of thermal or cold neutrons to o ...

* NDP – Neutron depth profiling * NEXAFS –

Near edge X-ray absorption fine structure X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES), also known as near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS), is a type of absorption spectroscopy that indicates the features in the X-ray absorption spectra ( XAS) of condensed matter due to the ...

* NIS – Nuclear inelastic scattering/absorption * NMR –

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, most commonly known as NMR spectroscopy or magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), is a spectroscopic technique to observe local magnetic fields around atomic nuclei. The sample is placed in a magnetic fie ...

* NOESY – Nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy * NRA – Nuclear reaction analysis * NSOM – Near-field optical microscopy

O

* OBIC – Optical beam induced current * ODNMR – Optically detected magnetic resonance, see ESR or EPR * OES – Optical emission spectroscopy * Osmometry

P

* PAS –

Positron annihilation spectroscopy Positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) or sometimes specifically referred to as Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) is a non-destructive spectroscopy technique to study voids and defects in solids. Theory The technique operates ...

Photoacoustic spectroscopy Photoacoustic spectroscopy is the measurement of the effect of absorbed electromagnetic energy (particularly of light) on matter by means of acoustic detection. The discovery of the photoacoustic effect dates to 1880 when Alexander Graham Bell sh ...

* PAT or PACT –

Photoacoustic tomography Photoacoustic imaging or optoacoustic imaging is a biomedical imaging modality based on the photoacoustic effect. Non-ionizing laser pulses are delivered into biological tissues and part of the energy will be absorbed and converted into heat, l ...

or photoacoustic computed tomography * PAX – Photoemission of adsorbed xenon * PC or PCS – Photocurrent spectroscopy *

Phase contrast microscopy __NOTOC__ Phase-contrast microscopy (PCM) is an optical microscopy technique that converts phase shifts in light passing through a transparent specimen to brightness changes in the image. Phase shifts themselves are invisible, but become visible ...

* PhD – Photoelectron diffraction * PD – Photodesorption * PDEIS – Potentiodynamic electrochemical impedance spectroscopy * PDS –

Photothermal deflection spectroscopy Photothermal spectroscopy is a group of high sensitivity spectroscopy techniques used to measure optical absorption and thermal characteristics of a sample. The basis of photothermal spectroscopy is the change in thermal state of the sample resultin ...

* PED – Photoelectron diffraction * PEELS – parallel

electron energy loss spectroscopy In electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) a material is exposed to a beam of electrons with a known, narrow range of kinetic energies. Some of the electrons will undergo inelastic scattering, which means that they lose energy and have their pa ...

* PEEM –

Photoemission electron microscopy Photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM, also called photoelectron microscopy, PEM) is a type of electron microscopy that utilizes local variations in electron emission to generate image contrast. The excitation is usually produced by ultraviolet l ...

(or photoelectron emission microscopy) * PES –

Photoelectron spectroscopy Photoemission spectroscopy (PES), also known as photoelectron spectroscopy, refers to energy measurement of electrons emitted from solids, gases or liquids by the photoelectric effect, in order to determine the binding energies of electrons in th ...

* PINEM – photon-induced near-field electron microscopy * PIGE – Particle (or proton) induced gamma-ray spectroscopy, see nuclear reaction analysis * PIXE – Particle (or proton) induced X-ray spectroscopy * PL – Photoluminescence *

Porosimetry Porosimetry is an analytical technique used to determine various quantifiable aspects of a material's porous structure, such as pore diameter, total pore volume, surface area, and bulk and absolute densities. The technique involves the intrusio ...

Powder diffraction Powder diffraction is a scientific technique using X-ray, neutron, or electron diffraction on powder or microcrystalline samples for structural characterization of materials. An instrument dedicated to performing such powder measurements is call ...

* PTMS – Photothermal microspectroscopy * PTS – Photothermal spectroscopy

Q

* QENS – Quasielastic neutron scattering * QCM-D – Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring

R

* Raman spectroscopy * RAXRS –

Resonant anomalous X-ray scattering X-ray scattering techniques are a family of non-destructive analytical techniques which reveal information about the crystal structure, chemical composition, and physical properties of materials and thin films. These techniques are based on observ ...

* RBS –

Rutherford backscattering spectrometry Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) is an analytical technique used in materials science. Sometimes referred to as high-energy ion scattering (HEIS) spectrometry, RBS is used to determine the structure and composition of materials by mea ...

* REM – Reflection electron microscopy * RDS –

Reflectance difference spectroscopy Reflectance difference spectroscopy (RDS) is a spectroscopic technique which measures the difference in reflectance of two beams of light that are shone in normal incident on a surface with different linear polarizations. It is also known as reflect ...

* RHEED –

Reflection high energy electron diffraction Reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) is a technique used to characterize the surface of crystalline materials. RHEED systems gather information only from the surface layer of the sample, which distinguishes RHEED from other materia ...

* RIMS –

Resonance ionization mass spectrometry Resonance ionization is a process in optical physics used to excite a specific atom (or molecule) beyond its ionization potential to form an ion using a beam of photons irradiated from a pulsed laser light. In resonance ionization, the absorption o ...

* RIXS –

Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) is an X-ray spectroscopy technique used to investigate the electronic structure of molecules and materials. Inelastic X-ray scattering is a fast developing experimental technique in which one scatters hi ...

* RR spectroscopy –

Resonance Raman spectroscopy Resonance Raman spectroscopy (RR spectroscopy) is a Raman spectroscopy technique in which the incident photon energy is close in energy to an electronic transition of a compound or material under examination. The frequency coincidence (or ''resonan ...

S

* SAD – Selected area diffraction * SAED – Selected area electron diffraction * SAM – Scanning Auger microscopy * SANS –

Small angle neutron scattering Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) is an analytical technique, experimental technique that uses elastic neutron scattering at small scattering angles to investigate the structure of various substances at a mesoscopic scale of about 1–100&nbs ...

* SAXS –

Small angle X-ray scattering Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) is a small-angle scattering technique by which nanoscale density differences in a sample can be quantified. This means that it can determine nanoparticle size distributions, resolve the size and shape of (monodi ...

* SCANIIR – Surface composition by analysis of neutral species and ion-impact radiation * SCEM –

Scanning confocal electron microscopy Scanning confocal electron microscopy (SCEM) is an electron microscopy technique analogous to scanning confocal optical microscopy (SCOM). In this technique, the studied sample is illuminated by a focussed electron beam, as in other scanning micros ...

* SE – Spectroscopic ellipsometry * SEC –

Size exclusion chromatography Size-exclusion chromatography (SEC), also known as molecular sieve chromatography, is a chromatographic method in which molecules in solution are separated by their size, and in some cases molecular weight. It is usually applied to large molecules ...

* SEIRA –

Surface enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy A surface, as the term is most generally used, is the outermost or uppermost layer of a physical object or space. It is the portion or region of the object that can first be perceived by an observer using the senses of Visual perception, sight ...

* SEM – Scanning electron microscopy * SERS –

Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy or surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a surface-sensitive technique that enhances Raman scattering by molecules adsorbed on rough metal surfaces or by nanostructures such as plasmonic-magnetic silica n ...

* SERRS –

Surface enhanced resonance Raman spectroscopy A surface, as the term is most generally used, is the outermost or uppermost layer of a physical object or space. It is the portion or region of the object that can first be perceived by an observer using the senses of Visual perception, sight ...

* SESANS – Spin Echo Small Angle Neutron Scattering * SEXAFS –

Surface extended X-ray absorption fine structure Surface-extended X-ray absorption fine structure (SEXAFS) is the surface-sensitive equivalent of the EXAFS technique. This technique involves the illumination of the sample by high-intensity X-ray beams from a synchrotron and monitoring their pho ...

* SICM –

Scanning ion-conductance microscopy Scanning ion-conductance microscopy (SICM) is a scanning probe microscopy technique that uses an electrode as the probe tip. SICM allows for the determination of the surface topography of micrometer and even nanometer-range structures in aqueous m ...

* SIL –

Solid immersion lens A solid immersion lens (SIL) has higher magnification and higher numerical aperture than common lenses by filling the object space with a high- refractive-index solid material. SIL was originally developed for enhancing the spatial resolution of o ...

* SIM – Solid immersion mirror * SIMS –

Secondary ion mass spectrometry Secondary-ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) is a technique used to analyze the composition of solid surfaces and thin films by sputtering the surface of the specimen with a focused primary ion beam and collecting and analyzing ejected secondary ions. ...

* SNMS – Sputtered neutral species mass spectrometry * SNOM –

Scanning near-field optical microscopy Near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) or scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) is a microscopy technique for nanostructure investigation that breaks the far field resolution limit by exploiting the properties of evanescent waves ...

* SPECT – Single-photon emission computed tomography * SPM – Scanning probe microscopy * SRM-CE/MS – Selected-reaction-monitoring capillary-electrophoresis mass-spectrometry * SSNMR –

Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance Solid-state NMR (ssNMR) spectroscopy is a technique for characterizing atomic level structure in solid materials e.g. powders, single crystals and amorphous samples and tissues using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The anisotropic pa ...

* Stark spectroscopy * STED – Stimulated emission depletion microscopy * STEM – Scanning transmission electron microscopy * STM –

Scanning tunneling microscopy A scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is a type of microscope used for imaging surfaces at the atomic level. Its development in 1981 earned its inventors, Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer, then at IBM Zürich, the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986. ...

* STS –

Scanning tunneling spectroscopy Scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS), an extension of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), is used to provide information about the density of electrons in a sample as a function of their energy. In scanning tunneling microscopy, a metal tip i ...

* SXRD – Surface X-ray diffraction

T

* TAT or TACT – Thermoacoustic tomography or thermoacoustic computed tomography (see also

photoacoustic tomography Photoacoustic imaging or optoacoustic imaging is a biomedical imaging modality based on the photoacoustic effect. Non-ionizing laser pulses are delivered into biological tissues and part of the energy will be absorbed and converted into heat, l ...

– PAT) * TEM –

Transmission electron microscopy Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is a microscopy technique in which a beam of electrons is transmitted through a specimen to form an image. The specimen is most often an ultrathin section less than 100 nm thick or a suspension on a g ...

* TGA –

Thermogravimetric analysis Thermogravimetric analysis or thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) is a method of thermal analysis in which the mass of a sample is measured over time as the temperature changes. This measurement provides information about physical phenomena, such ...

* TIKA – Transmitting ion kinetic analysis * TIMS –

Thermal ionization mass spectrometry Thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) is also known as surface ionization and is a highly sensitive isotope mass spectrometry characterization technique. The isotopic ratios of radionuclides are used to get an accurate measurement for the ele ...

* TIRFM –

Total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy A total internal reflection fluorescence microscope (TIRFM) is a type of microscope with which a thin region of a specimen, usually less than 200 nanometers can be observed. TIRFM is an imaging modality which uses the excitation of fluorescent cel ...

* TLS – Photothermal lens spectroscopy, a type of photothermal spectroscopy * TMA –

Thermomechanical analysis Thermomechanical analysis (TMA) is a technique used in thermal analysis, a branch of materials science which studies the properties of materials as they change with temperature. Thermomechanical analysis is a subdiscipline of the thermomechanom ...

* TOF-MS –

Time-of-flight mass spectrometry Time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS) is a method of mass spectrometry in which an ion's mass-to-charge ratio is determined by a time of flight measurement. Ions are accelerated by an electric field of known strength. This acceleration res ...

Two-photon excitation microscopy Two-photon excitation microscopy (TPEF or 2PEF) is a fluorescence imaging technique that allows imaging of living tissue up to about one millimeter in thickness, with 0.64 μm lateral and 3.35 μm axial spatial resolution. Unlike traditional fl ...

* TXRF – Total reflection

X-ray fluorescence X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is the emission of characteristic "secondary" (or fluorescent) X-rays from a material that has been excited by being bombarded with high-energy X-rays or gamma rays. The phenomenon is widely used for elemental analysis ...

analysis

U

Ultrasound attenuation spectroscopy Ultrasound attenuation spectroscopy is a method for characterizing properties of fluids In physics, a fluid is a liquid, gas, or other material that continuously deforms (''flows'') under an applied shear stress, or external force. They have ...

* UPS – UV-photoelectron spectroscopy * USANS – Ultra small-angle neutron scattering * USAXS – Ultra small-angle X-ray scattering * UT –

Ultrasonic testing Ultrasonic testing (UT) is a family of non-destructive testing techniques based on the propagation of ultrasonic waves in the object or material tested. In most common UT applications, very short ultrasonic pulse-waves with center frequencies ...

* UV-Vis –

Ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy UV spectroscopy or UV–visible spectrophotometry (UV–Vis or UV/Vis) refers to absorption spectroscopy or reflectance spectroscopy in part of the ultraviolet and the full, adjacent visible regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Being relative ...

V

* VEDIC – Video-enhanced

differential interference contrast microscopy Differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy, also known as Nomarski interference contrast (NIC) or Nomarski microscopy, is an optical microscopy technique used to enhance the contrast in unstained, transparent samples. DIC works on the p ...

Voltammetry Voltammetry is a category of electroanalytical methods used in analytical chemistry and various industrial processes. In voltammetry, information about an analyte is obtained by measuring the current as the potential is varied. The analytical data ...

W

* WAXS –

Wide angle X-ray scattering In X-ray crystallography, wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) or wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) is the analysis of Bragg peaks scattered to wide angles, which (by Bragg's law) are caused by sub-nanometer-sized structures. It is an X-ray-diffr ...

* WDX or WDS –

Wavelength dispersive X-ray spectroscopy Wavelength-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (WDXS or WDS) is a non-destructive analysis technique used to obtain elemental information about a range of materials by measuring characteristic x-rays within a small wavelength range. The technique gener ...

X

* XAES –

X-ray induced Auger electron spectroscopy file:HD.6C.037 (11856519893).jpg, A Hanford Site, Hanford scientist uses an Auger electron spectrometer to determine the elemental composition of surfaces. Auger electron spectroscopy (AES; pronounced in French) is a common analytical technique us ...

* XANES –

XANES X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES), also known as near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS), is a type of absorption spectroscopy that indicates the features in the X-ray absorption spectra ( XAS) of condensed matter due to the ...

, synonymous with NEXAFS (near edge X-ray absorption fine structure) * XAS –

X-ray absorption spectroscopy X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is a widely used technique for determining the local geometric and/or electronic structure of matter. The experiment is usually performed at synchrotron radiation facilities, which provide intense and tunabl ...

* X-CTR – X-ray crystal truncation rod scattering *

X-ray crystallography X-ray crystallography is the experimental science determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in which the crystalline structure causes a beam of incident X-rays to diffract into many specific directions. By measuring the angles ...

* XDS –

X-ray diffuse scattering X-ray scattering techniques are a family of non-destructive analytical techniques which reveal information about the crystal structure, chemical composition, and physical properties of materials and thin films. These techniques are based on observ ...

* XPEEM –

X-ray photoelectron emission microscopy X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is a surface-sensitive quantitative spectroscopic technique based on the photoelectric effect that can identify the elements that exist within a material (elemental composition) or are covering its surface, ...

* XPS –

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is a surface-sensitive quantitative spectroscopic technique based on the photoelectric effect that can identify the elements that exist within a material (elemental composition) or are covering its surface, ...

* XRD – X-ray diffraction * XRES –

X-ray resonant exchange scattering An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 Picometre, picometers to 10 Nanometre, nanometers, corresponding to frequency, ...

* XRF –

analysis * XRR – X-ray reflectivity * XRS – X-ray Raman scattering * XSW – X-ray standing wave technique

References

* * {{cite book , editor=Yao, N , title=Focused Ion Beam Systems: Basics and Applications , publisher=Cambridge University Press , location=Cambridge, UK , year=2007 , isbn=978-0-521-83199-4 Materials analysis methods Analytical chemistry Materials analysis methods Materials analysis methods

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References