The book provides an authoritative guide to the wide range of powerful techniques that are used to characterize the surfaces of materials. Practical in approach, it describes the major analytical techniques and shows how they can be used to solve a multitude of chemical and physical problems. Extensive data tables allow the reader to assess rapidly the strengths as well as the pitfalls inherent in each method. Chapters on chemical composition, optical and crystallographic properties, microtopography, surface processes, tribological, electrical and magnetic properties of surface films are featured. In addition, chapters, specializing on applications within the life sciences on the microscopic scale and chemometrics are included. The book is addressed to both academic and industrial audiences.Dieses Buch ist ein zuverlässiger Leitfaden durch das umfangreiche Gebiet von probaten Techniken, die benutzt werden, um Materialoberflächen zu charakterisieren. Es vermittelt dem Leser, mit Hinblick auf die Praxis, nicht nur Kenntnisse zu den wichtigsten analytischen Methoden, sondern zeigt, wie diese zur Lösung chemischer und physikalischer Probleme angewendet werden können.