As an industrial consulting laboratory specializing in small particle, thin film, and surface analysis, instrumental techniques to solve problems involving contamination, failure analysis, processing control, and materials research are used on a daily basis. In many cases, elemental analysis for samples is sufficient to pinpoint problems and suggest solutions. However, some cases require a more detailed understanding of chemical states and phases in small particles and films than that typically obtained from light and electron microscopy and x-ray microanalysis.

The chemical states and phases in crystalline particles and thick films can be analyzed with several techniques found in many laboratories, including polarized light microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and electron diffraction. In combination with elemental analysis, these techniques oftentimes provide a very detailed understanding of the chemistry of particles and films.