ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the more advanced methods in microscopy and spectroscopy related to the study of phenomena in the micron range, microtopography, bulk microanalysis, and analysis of thin surface layers. The relevance to biomaterials studies will be indicated. The information that is obtained from a microstructural study of a metallic or ceramic biomaterial can be listed. First, there are the data on the morphology and topography of the surface, the crystal structure, and the distribution of the present phases, and second, there are the results relating the chemical composition to the observed microstructural features. The commercially available techniques used for a microstructural study are dominated by first, microscopy and second, spectroscopy. In domains where the surface phenomena are of primary importance, such as chemical surface reactions, the composition and the structure of the outermost atomic layers determine the characteristics of the solid.
