T h e an a ly sis o f th e su rface ch e m istry o f org an ic m a te ria ls o r o f o rg an ic m olecules a t su rfaces p re s e n ts special p ro b lem s. F irs tly th e re is th e re q u ire m e n t o f hig h chem ical sp ecificity a n d th e a b ility to d e te c t sm all differences in chem ical s ta te . S econdly, o rg an ics are v e ry sen sitiv e to d am ag e b y th e ra d ia tio n u sed for th e an aly sis. O ver re c e n t y ears, s ta tic seco n d ary ion m ass sp e c tro m e try (s

more »

... s i m s ) h as been d ev elo p ed in to a te c h n iq u e w hich is ab le to p ro v id e th e pow er o f m ass sp e c tro m e try fo r th e ch em ical c h a ra c te riz a tio n o f surfaces. F u rth e rm o re , th e a d v e n t o f tim e-o f-flig h t m ass s p e c tro m e try te ch n iq u es h as en ab led v ery high s e n sitiv ity w ith little sam p le d am ag e. T h e p ow er o f th e te c h n iq u e is illu s tra te d b y its ap p lic a tio n to fo u r are a s o f su rface in v e s tig a tio n : th e a d so rp tio n a n d re a c tio n o f p ro p en e a t a ru th e n iu m single c ry s ta l su rfa c e ; th e in te ra c tio n o f o rg an ic lu b ric a n ts a t a s y n th e tic 'g o ld ' su rfa c e ; th e in te ra c tio n o f b io a ctiv e m olecules a t a m odel cell m em b ran e surface, a n d th e id e n tific a tio n o f c o n ta m in a tio n resp o n sib le fo r ad h esiv e failure.