The core of Rocky Mountain Laboratories’ business has always been surface analysis. We use the suite of Auger, XPS (or ESCA), and SIMS to analyze the outer atomic layer of materials to characterize surface chemistry. Sputter depth profiles are used to characterize the composition vs. depth of materials and are especially useful in determining passivation layers on stainless steel or surface oxide differences between samples.

Rocky Mountain Laboratories works with a variety of industries to solve process problems as well as for quality control. Coating thicknesses can be measured with polished or fractured cross sections. Microstructure is characterized on etched samples both with optical and SEM analysis. Engineered materials often have surface roughness or features that can be characterized with Atomic Force Microscopy and/or high resolution SEM imaging. Our engineers have many years of experience in complementary fields to help our customers choose the right technique as well as to understand the data.

Quite often, contaminants contain only carbon and oxygen when analyzed with elemental techniques. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is used to identify organic materials by comparing a fingerprint type spectrum to our library of more than 250,000 spectra. Common polymer materials are often easily identified by this analysis, and oils and greases can also be identified. Our microscope-FTIR is capable of analyzing particles as small as 10 micrometers in size.