In this paper, the use of a surface ablation cell (SAC) to quantify the elemental compositional depth profile of float glass is presented. High spatial resolution data of 10-20nm is reported. Elemental resolution is also high so that, for example, the tin hump, which is not normally observed in low iron borofloat glasses, is recorded with good resolution. The technique is based on a wet dissolution of the glass surface on a layer by layer basis using ordinary equipment available in most chemical laboratories. Due to its simple nature, the procedure required further collaborative investigation with other instrumental surface analytical techniques. The results obtained compare favourably with those obtained by SIMS. It is shown that sample pretreatment is important and directly affects the outcome of the investigation.
