The functionality of modern products made of glass, glass-ceramics, organics or other special materials is mainly dominated by the surface quality. A well defined lateral homogeneity of the surface stoichiometry is an important requirement for following added-value procedures, e.g. optical, mechanical or organic functional coatings. As a characterisation tool, the time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) provides analytical information about the chemical matrix in the surface near region with a lateral and depth resolution on the nanometer scale. Corrosion, contamination, interaction with the environment or diffusion of material components are typical phenomena, which can be studied in detail. The results lead to a deeper knowledge of the microscopic material behaviour.
