We have developed optical second harmonic (SH) and sum frequency (SF) microscopies as probes of non-centrosymmetric structures in solid state materials. In this paper, recent several studies performed by the SH and SF microscopies are presented. The oxidation of carbon monoxide on the Pt surface, a multi-stack film of two metal species, the electric field near a silver grating, the spatial distribution of electronic states of an arsenic ion implanted Si(111), the hydrogen desorption by laser pulses from a hydrogen terminated Si surface have been investigated by the SH microscopy. Nondestructive chemical analysis of starch granules in a water plant have been performed by the SH and SF microscopies. The distribution of asymmetric species is demonstrated to be mapped by the SH and SF microscopies.

  In X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), the correction of XPS spectra shifted due to surface charging is very important for chemical state determination. Although the C 1s line from the adventitious hydrocarbon has been widely used as a reference for the charge correction, this method has some problems. For example, there is a possibility that the C 1s peak energy of the adventitious hydrocarbon shifts depending on the experimental conditions and the XPS instruments. Therefore, we executed a round-robin test in which we measured the C 1s lines of adventitious hydrocarbon on gold plate and gold-coated substrates, and we verified whether the binding energy of the C 1s peak of the adventitious hydrocarbon correlated with the concentration of carbon using the same sample with the same energy correction method. We revealed the following results: (1) The binding energy of C 1s line from naturally grown adventitious hydrocarbon on gold plate was almost constant at 284.69±0.12 eV within the range of atomic concentration ratio of C/(C+Au)=0.52-0.78. (2) The C 1s binding energy of the hydrocarbon on gold-coated Ni₄₂Fe₅₈ alloy shifted higher with increasing the amount of hydrocarbon within the range of atomic concentration ratio of C/(C+Au)=0.41-0.67. (3) The C 1s binding energy of the hydrocarbon on gold-coated glass was 284.8 to 285.4 eV which is higher than other type samples without reproducibility. (4) When take off angle changed, the C 1s binding energy shift was maintained within 0.2 eV although the concentration of carbon apparently changed. (5) The C 1s binding energy shifted higher immediately after Ar⁺ sputter cleaning, and after few hours it shifted lower toward a binding energy of amorphous carbon, and then it shifted higher again with increasing carbon.

  The international workshop on depth profiling is going to be held under the organization of Surface Analysis Society of Japan (SASJ) in 2008. A working group on depth profiling is also planed to be established as an activity of SASJ. In order to survey a present status and topic of depth profiling in actual analytical works and reflect it to the scope of the workshop and the stratagem of the working group, questionnaires has been performed during Practical Surface Analysis 2007 (PSA-07) held in Kanazawa from November 25-28, 2007. In the present report, the questionnaires survey is summarized.

  For analysis of deep interfaces with high depth resolution, we proposed a technique to prepare thin samples by a focused ion beam (FIB) and performed Auger electron spectroscopy (AES)-sputter depth profiling of processes samples. We can prepare samples of thin interface layers existing deep in the sample and obtain sputter depth profiles without deterioration of depth resolution. A comparison of cross-sectional line profiles of multilayers with the depth profiles obtained by the present technique revealed that the contamination and oxidation of the surface of the cross-sectional sample provides incorrect information of existence of carbon or oxide layer which do not exist actually. We also found out that depth profiling of non-conductive materials can obtained without influence of charge-up.

  Sample preparation techniques are absolutely important for structural analysis. Widely used techniques such as mechanical polishing and microtome fabrication have proved to be highly effective techniques. However, these techniques have severe limitations regarding fabrication of hard materials, and obtaining wide useful observation areas, which make the fabrication of particularly composite layered materials extremely difficult. To alleviate these difficulties a recently developed broad argon ion beam Cross Section Polisher (CP) was used to fabricate various composite materials. The application of CP requires an elaborate and skillful sample pre-treatment that is unique to the nature of each sample and which enhances the possibility of a wide variety of surface analysis methods to be applied to the sample. In this paper we introduce typical examples of the application of CP as a sample preparation technique for surface analysis.

  The quality of images of an electron optical system is dominated by the performance of an objective lens. This is because the angle spread of an electron beam becomes largest in an object plane. In electron spectroscopy with imaging, image intensity often has priority over spatial resolution, and then the image quality is determined by the spherical aberration of an objective lens. In this chapter, the imaging process for incoherent illumination under the influence of spherical aberration is discussed. Evaluation of such optical systems using the theory of spatial-frequency response is also described.

  Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer includes a variety of measurement techniques, such as attenuated total reflection (ATR) and reflection absorption spectroscopy (RAS), which are effective for analysis of both surfaces and thin films. In addition, performing ATR together with an infrared microscope enables surface analysis of minute areas. This report introduces thin-film analysis applications, such as the measurement of Fibrinogen monomolecular films using these two techniques.