Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGBInnovative products are increasingly refined by customized surface design, whose processes and surface compositions must be controlled up to the submicroscopic or even atomic level. This is because adhesion, wetting, wear or corrosion are already influenced by the slightest contamination. Therefore, the precise characterization of the chemical, physical and morphological surface properties of materials, workpieces, components and powders is not only essential during product development, but also in process control, quality assurance as well as in damage analysis. Only recent methods of surface analysis provide access to this information.