• μSR - see Muon spin spectroscopy
  Muon spin spectroscopy
  Muon spin spectroscopy is an experimental technique based on the implantation of spin-polarized muons in matter and on the detection of the influence of the atomic, molecular or crystalline surroundings on their spin motion...
  
  
• χ - see Magnetic susceptibility
  Magnetic susceptibility
  In electromagnetism, the magnetic susceptibility \chi_m is a dimensionless proportionality constant that indicates the degree of magnetization of a material in response to an applied magnetic field...
  
  

A

• Analytical ultracentrifugation - Analytical ultracentrifugation
• AAS - Atomic absorption spectroscopy
  Atomic absorption spectroscopy
  Atomic absorption spectroscopy is a spectroanalytical procedure for the qualitative and quantitative determination of chemical elements employing the absorption of optical radiation by free atoms in the gaseous state. In analytical chemistry the technique is used for determining the concentration...
  
  
• AED - Auger electron diffraction
• AES - Auger electron spectroscopy
  Auger electron spectroscopy
  Auger electron spectroscopy is a common analytical technique used specifically in the study of surfaces and, more generally, in the area of materials science...
  
  
• AFM - Atomic force microscopy
  Atomic force microscope
  Atomic force microscopy or scanning force microscopy is a very high-resolution type of scanning probe microscopy, with demonstrated resolution on the order of fractions of a nanometer, more than 1000 times better than the optical diffraction limit...
  
  
• AFS - Atomic fluorescence spectroscopy
• APFIM - Atom probe field ion microscopy
  Atom probe
  The atom probe is a microscope used in material science that was invented in 1967 by Erwin Wilhelm Müller, J. A. Panitz, and S. Brooks McLane. The atom probe is closely related to the method of Field Ion Microscopy, which is the first microscopic method to achieve atomic resolution, occurring in...
  
  
• APS - Appearance potential spectroscopy
• ARPES - Angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy
  ARPES
  Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy , also known as ARUPS , is a direct experimental technique to observe the distribution of the electrons in the reciprocal space of solids...
  
  
• ARUPS - Angle resolved ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy
  ARPES
  Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy , also known as ARUPS , is a direct experimental technique to observe the distribution of the electrons in the reciprocal space of solids...
  
  
• ATR - Attenuated total reflectance
  Attenuated total reflectance
  Attenuated total reflectance is a sampling technique used in conjunction with infrared spectroscopy which enables samples to be examined directly in the solid, liquid or gas state without further preparation....
  
  

B

• BET - BET surface area measurement
  BET theory
  BET theory aims to explain the physical adsorption of gas molecules on a solid surface and serves as the basis for an important analysis technique for the measurement of the specific surface area of a material...
  
   (BET from Brunauer, Emmett, Teller)
• BiFC - Bimolecular fluorescence complementation
  Bimolecular fluorescence complementation
  Bimolecular fluorescence complementation is a technology typically used to validate protein interactions. It is based on the association of fluorescent protein fragments that are attached to components of the same macromolecular complex...
  
  
• BKD - Backscatter Kikuchi diffraction, see EBSD
• BRET - Bioluminescence resonance energy transfer
• BSED - Back scattered electron diffraction, see EBSD

C

• CAICISS - Coaxial impact collision ion scattering spectroscopy
• CARS - Coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy
  Coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy
  Coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy, also called Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering spectroscopy , is a form of spectroscopy used primarily in chemistry, physics and related fields. It is sensitive to the same vibrational signatures of molecules as seen in Raman spectroscopy, typically the...
  
  
• CBED - Convergent beam electron diffraction
• CCM - Charge collection microscopy
• CDI - Coherent diffraction imaging
  Coherent diffraction imaging
  Coherent diffractive imaging also coherent diffracton imaging is a “lensless” technique for 2D or 3D reconstruction of the image of nanoscale structures such as nanotubes1, nanocrystals², defects³, potentially proteins4 and more4. In CDI, a highly coherent beam of x-rays, electrons or other...
  
  
• CE - Capillary electrophoresis
  Capillary electrophoresis
  Capillary electrophoresis , also known as capillary zone electrophoresis , can be used to separate ionic species by their charge and frictional forces and hydrodynamic radius. In traditional electrophoresis, electrically charged analytes move in a conductive liquid medium under the influence of an...
  
  
• CET - Cryo-electron tomography
  Cryo-electron tomography
  Cryo-electron tomography is a type of electron cryomicroscopy where tomography is used to obtain a 3D reconstruction of a sample from tilted 2D images at cryogenic temperatures....
  
  
• CL - Cathodoluminescence
  Cathodoluminescence
  Cathodoluminescence is an optical and electrical phenomenon whereby a beam of electrons is generated by an electron gun and then impacts on a luminescent material such as a phosphor, causing the material to emit visible light. The most common example is the screen of a television...
  
  
• CLSM - Confocal laser scanning microscopy
  Confocal laser scanning microscopy
  Confocal laser scanning microscopy is a technique for obtaining high-resolution optical images with depth selectivity. The key feature of confocal microscopy is its ability to acquire in-focus images from selected depths, a process known as optical sectioning...
  
  
• COSY - Correlation spectroscopy
  Correlation spectroscopy
  Two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy is a set of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy methods which give data plotted in a space defined by two frequency axes rather than one. Types of 2D NMR include correlation spectroscopy , J-spectroscopy, exchange spectroscopy , and...
  
  
• Cryo-EM - Cryo-electron microscopy
  Cryo-electron microscopy
  Cryo-electron microscopy , or electron cryomicroscopy, is a form of transmission electron microscopy where the sample is studied at cryogenic temperatures...
  
  
• CV - Cyclic voltammetry
  Cyclic voltammetry
  Cyclic voltammetry or CV is a type of potentiodynamic electrochemical measurement. In a cyclic voltammetry experiment the working electrode potential is ramped linearly versus time like linear sweep voltammetry. Cyclic voltammetry takes the experiment a step further than linear sweep voltammetry...
  
  

D

• DE(T)A - Dielectric thermal analysis
  Dielectric thermal analysis
  Dielectric Thermal Analysis , or Dielectric Analysis , is a materials science technique similar to dynamic mechanical analysis except that an oscillating electrical field is used instead of a mechanical force...
  
  
• dHvA - De Haas-van Alphen effect
  De Haas-van Alphen effect
  The de Haas–van Alphen effect, often abbreviated to dHvA, is a quantum mechanical effect in which the magnetic moment of a pure metal crystal oscillates as the intensity of an applied magnetic field B is increased. Other quantities also oscillate, such as the resistivity , specific heat, and sound...
  
  
• DIC - Differential interference contrast microscopy
  Differential interference contrast microscopy
  Differential interference contrast microscopy , also known as Nomarski Interference Contrast or Nomarski microscopy, is an optical microscopy illumination technique used to enhance the contrast in unstained, transparent samples...
  
  
• Dielectric spectroscopy - Dielectric spectroscopy
  Dielectric spectroscopy
  Dielectric spectroscopy , and also known as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, measures the dielectric properties of a medium as a function of frequency...
  
  
• DLS - Dynamic light scattering
  Dynamic light scattering
  thumb|right|350px|Hypothetical Dynamic light scattering of two samples: Larger particles on the top and smaller particle on the bottomDynamic light scattering is a technique in physics that can be used to determine the size distribution profile of small particles in suspension or polymers...
  
  
• DLTS - Deep-level transient spectroscopy
• DMA - Dynamic mechanical analysis
  Dynamic mechanical analysis
  Dynamic mechanical analysis is a technique used to study and characterize materials. It is most useful for studying the viscoelastic behavior of polymers. A sinusoidal stress is applied and the strain in the material is measured, allowing one to determine the complex modulus...
  
  
• DPI - Dual polarisation interferometry
  Dual Polarisation Interferometry
  Dual polarization interferometry is an analytical technique that can probe molecular scale layers adsorbed to the surface of a waveguide by using the evanescent wave of a laser beam confined to the waveguide...
  
  
• DRS - Differential reflectance spectroscopy
• DSC - Differential scanning calorimetry
  Differential scanning calorimetry
  Differential scanning calorimetry or DSC is a thermoanalytical technique in which the difference in the amount of heat required to increase the temperature of a sample and reference is measured as a function of temperature. Both the sample and reference are maintained at nearly the same temperature...
  
  
• DTA - Differential thermal analysis
  Differential thermal analysis
  Differential thermal analysis is a thermoanalytic technique, similar to differential scanning calorimetry. In DTA, the material under study and an inert reference are made to undergo identical thermal cycles, while recording any temperature difference between sample and reference...
  
  
• DVS - Dynamic vapour sorption

E

• EBIC - Electron beam induced current
  Electron beam induced current
  Electron beam induced current is a semiconductor analysis technique performed in a scanning electron microscope or scanning transmission electron microscope . It is used to identify buried junctions or defects in semiconductors, or to examine minority carrier properties...
  
   (and see IBIC: ion beam induced charge)
• EBS - Elastic (non-Rutherford) backscattering spectrometry (see RBS)
• EBSD - Electron backscatter diffraction
  Electron backscatter diffraction
  Electron backscatter diffraction , also known as backscatter Kikuchi diffraction is a microstructural-crystallographic technique used to examine the crystallographic orientation of many materials, which can be used to elucidate texture or preferred orientation of any crystalline or polycrystalline...
  
  
• ECOSY - Exclusive correlation spectroscopy
  Exclusive correlation spectroscopy
  Exclusive correlation spectroscopy is an NMR correlation experiment introduced by O. W. Sørensen, Christian Griesinger, Richard R. Ernst and coworkers for the accurate measurement of small J-couplings....
  
  
• ECT - Electrical capacitance tomography
  Electrical capacitance tomography
  Electrical capacitance tomography is a method for determination of the dielectric permittivity distribution in the interior of an object from external capacitance measurements. It is a close relative of electrical impedance tomography and is proposed as a method for industrial process monitoring,...
  
  
• EDAX - Energy-dispersive analysis of x-rays
• EDMR - Electrically detected magnetic resonance
  Electrically Detected Magnetic Resonance
  Electrically Detected Magnetic Resonance is a materials characterisation technique that improves upon electron spin resonance. It involves measuring the change in electrical resistance of a sample when exposed to certain microwave frequencies...
  
  , see ESR or EPR
• EDS - Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy
• EDX - Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy
• EELS - Electron energy loss spectroscopy
  Electron energy loss spectroscopy
  In electron energy loss spectroscopy a material is exposed to a beam of electrons with a known, narrow range of kinetic energies. Some of the electrons will undergo inelastic scattering, which means that they lose energy and have their paths slightly and randomly deflected...
  
  
• EFTEM - Energy filtered transmission electron microscopy
  Energy filtered transmission electron microscopy
  Energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy is a technique used in Transmission electron microscopy, in which only electrons of particular kinetic energies are used to form the image or diffraction pattern...
  
  
• EID - Electron induced desorption
• EIT and ERT - Electrical impedance tomography
  Electrical impedance tomography
  Electrical impedance tomography is a medical imaging technique in which an image of the conductivity or permittivity of part of the body is inferred from surface electrical measurements. Typically, conducting electrodes are attached to the skin of the subject and small alternating currents are...
  
   and Electrical resistivity tomography
  Electrical resistivity tomography
  Electrical resistivity tomography or electrical resistivity imaging is a geophysical technique for imaging sub-surface structures from electrical measurements made at the surface, or by electrodes in one or more boreholes. It is closely related to the medical imaging technique electrical...
  
  
• EL - Electroluminescence
  Electroluminescence
  Electroluminescence is an optical phenomenon and electrical phenomenon in which a material emits light in response to the passage of an electric current or to a strong electric field...
  
  
• Electron crystallography - Electron crystallography
  Electron crystallography
  Electron crystallography is a method to determine the arrangement of atoms in solids using a transmission electron microscope .- Comparison with X-ray crystallography :...
  
  
• ELS - Electrophoretic light scattering
  Electrophoretic light scattering
  Electrophoretic light scattering is based on dynamic light scattering. The frequency shift or phase shift of an incident laser beam depends on the dispersed particles mobility. In the case of dynamic light scattering, Brownian motion causes particle motion...
  
  
• ENDOR - Electron nuclear double resonance
  Electron nuclear double resonance
  Electron nuclear double resonance is a magnetic resonance technique for obtaining detailed molecular and electronic structure of paramagnetic species. In the standard continuous wave experiment, a microwave field is first applied, followed by irradiation with a radio frequency field...
  
  , see ESR or EPR
• EPMA - Electron probe microanalysis
  Electron microprobe
  An electron microprobe , also known as an electron probe microanalyzer or electron micro probe analyzer , is an analytical tool used to non-destructively determine the chemical composition of small volumes of solid materials...
  
  
• EPR - Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy
  Electron paramagnetic resonance
  Electron paramagnetic resonance or electron spin resonance spectroscopyis a technique for studying chemical species that have one or more unpaired electrons, such as organic and inorganic free radicals or inorganic complexes possessing a transition metal ion...
  
  
• ERD or ERDA - Elastic recoil detection
  Elastic recoil detection
  Elastic Recoil Detection, also referred to as forward recoil scattering, is a nuclear technique in materials science to obtain elemental concentration depth profiles in thin films. An energetic ion beam is directed at the sample to be depth profiled and there is an elastic nuclear interaction...
  
   or Elastic recoil detection analysis
  Elastic recoil detection
  Elastic Recoil Detection, also referred to as forward recoil scattering, is a nuclear technique in materials science to obtain elemental concentration depth profiles in thin films. An energetic ion beam is directed at the sample to be depth profiled and there is an elastic nuclear interaction...
  
  
• ESCA - Electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis* see XPS
• ESD - Electron stimulated desorption
• ESEM - Environmental scanning electron microscopy
• ESI-MS or ES-MS - Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry
  Electrospray ionization
  Electrospray ionization is a technique used in mass spectrometry to produce ions. It is especially useful in producing ions from macromolecules because it overcomes the propensity of these molecules to fragment when ionized...
  
   or Electrospray mass spectrometry
• ESR - Electron spin resonance spectroscopy
  Electron paramagnetic resonance
  Electron paramagnetic resonance or electron spin resonance spectroscopyis a technique for studying chemical species that have one or more unpaired electrons, such as organic and inorganic free radicals or inorganic complexes possessing a transition metal ion...
  
  
• ESTM - Electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy
  Electrochemical scanning tunneling microscope
  The electrochemical scanning tunneling microscope, or ESTM, was invented in 1988 by Kingo Itaya in Japan. With ESTM, the structures of surfaces and electrochemical reactions in solid-liquid interfaces can be observed at atomic or molecular scales....
  
  
• EXAFS - Extended X-ray absorption fine structure
  Extended X-Ray Absorption Fine Structure
  X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy includes both Extended X-Ray Absorption Fine Structure and X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure . XAS is the measurement of the x-ray absorption coefficient of a material as a function of energy...
  
  
• EXSY - Exchange spectroscopy

F

• FCS - Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy
  Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy
  Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy is a correlation analysis of fluctuation of the fluorescence intensity. The analysis provides parameters of the physics under the fluctuations. One of the interesting applications of this is an analysis of the concentration fluctuations of fluorescent...
  
  
• FCCS - Fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy
  Fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy
  Fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy was introduced by Eigen and Rigler in 1994 and experimentally realized by Schwille in 1997...
  
  
• FEM - Field emission microscopy
• FIB - Focused ion beam
  Focused ion beam
  Focused ion beam, also known as FIB, is a technique used particularly in the semiconductor industry, materials science and increasingly in the biological field for site-specific analysis, deposition, and ablation of materials. An FIB setup is a scientific instrument that resembles a scanning...
  
   microscopy
• FIM-AP - Field ion microscopy–atom probe
  Atom probe
  The atom probe is a microscope used in material science that was invented in 1967 by Erwin Wilhelm Müller, J. A. Panitz, and S. Brooks McLane. The atom probe is closely related to the method of Field Ion Microscopy, which is the first microscopic method to achieve atomic resolution, occurring in...
  
  
• Flow birefringence - Flow birefringence
  Flow birefringence
  In biochemistry, flow birefringence is a hydrodynamic technique for measuring the rotational diffusion constants . The birefringence of a solution sandwiched between two concentric cylinders is measured as a function of the difference in rotational speed between the inner and outer cylinders...
  
  
• Fluorescence anisotropy - Fluorescence anisotropy
  Fluorescence anisotropy
  Fluorescence anisotropy is the phenomenon where the light emitted by a fluorophore has unequal intensities along different axes of polarization...
  
  
• FLIM - Fluorescence lifetime imaging
  Fluorescence lifetime imaging
  Fluorescence-lifetime imaging microscopy or FLIM is an imaging technique for producing an image based on the differences in the exponential decay rate of the fluorescence from a fluorescent sample...
  
  
• Fluorescence microscopy - Fluorescence microscopy
• FOSPM - Feature-oriented scanning probe microscopy
• FRET - Fluorescence resonance energy transfer
  Fluorescence resonance energy transfer
  Förster resonance energy transfer , also known as fluorescence resonance energy transfer, resonance energy transfer or electronic energy transfer , is a mechanism describing energy transfer between two chromophores.A donor chromophore, initially in its electronic excited state, may transfer energy...
  
  
• FRS - Forward Recoil Spectrometry, a synonym of ERD
• FTICR or FT-MS - Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance
  Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance
  Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry, also known as Fourier transform mass spectrometry, is a type of mass analyzer for determining the mass-to-charge ratio of ions based on the cyclotron frequency of the ions in a fixed magnetic field...
  
   or Fourier transform mass spectrometry
• FTIR - Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
  Fourier transform spectroscopy
  Fourier transform spectroscopy is a measurement technique whereby spectra are collected based on measurements of the coherence of a radiative source, using time-domain or space-domain measurements of the electromagnetic radiation or other type of radiation....
  
  

G

• GC-MS - Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry
  Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry
  Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry is a method that combines the features of gas-liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry to identify different substances within a test sample. Applications of GC-MS include drug detection, fire investigation, environmental analysis, explosives investigation,...
  
  
• GDMS - Glow discharge mass spectrometry
• GDOS - Glow discharge optical spectroscopy
• GISAXS - Grazing incidence small angle X-ray scattering
• GIXD - Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction
• GIXR - Grazing incidence X-ray reflectivity
• GLC - Gas-liquid chromatography
  Gas-liquid chromatography
  Gas chromatography , is a common type of chromatography used in analytical chemistry for separating and analysing compounds that can be vaporized without decomposition. Typical uses of GC include testing the purity of a particular substance, or separating the different components of a mixture...
  
  

H

• HAADF - high angle annular dark-field imaging
  Annular dark-field imaging
  Annular dark-field imaging is a method of mapping samples in a scanning transmission electron microscope . These images are formed by collecting scattered electrons with an annular dark-field detector....
  
  
• HAS - Helium atom scattering
  Helium atom scattering
  Helium atom scattering is a surface analysis technique used in materials science. HAS provides information about the surface structure and lattice dynamics of a material by measuring the diffracted atoms from a monochromatic helium beam incident on the sample.- History :The first recorded He...
  
  
• HPLC - High performance liquid chromatography
  High performance liquid chromatography
  High-performance liquid chromatography , HPLC, is a chromatographic technique that can separate a mixture of compounds and is used in biochemistry and analytical chemistry to identify, quantify and purify the individual components of the mixture.HPLC typically utilizes different types of stationary...
  
  
• HREELS - High resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy
  High resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy
  High Resolution Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy is a tool used in surface science. The inelastic scattering of electrons from surfaces is utilized to study electronic excitations or vibrational modes of the surface or of molecules adsorbed to a surface...
  
  
• HREM - High-resolution electron microscopy
• HRTEM - High-resolution transmission electron microscopy

I

• IAES - Ion induced Auger electron spectroscopy
• IBA - Ion beam analysis
  Ion beam analysis
  Ion beam analysis is an important family of modern analytical techniques involving the use of MeV ion beams to probe the composition and obtain elemental depth profiles in the near-surface layer of solids. All IBA methods are highly sensitive and allow the detection of elements in the...
  
  
• IBIC - Ion beam induced charge microscopy
• ICP-AES - Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy
• ICP-MS - Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry
• Immunofluorescence - Immunofluorescence
  Immunofluorescence
  Immunofluorescence is a technique used for light microscopy with a fluorescence microscope and is used primarily on biological samples. This technique uses the specificity of antibodies to their antigen to target fluorescent dyes to specific biomolecule targets within a cell, and therefore allows...
  
  
• ICR - Ion cyclotron resonance
  Ion cyclotron resonance
  Ion cyclotron resonance is a phenomenon related to the movement of ions in a magnetic field. It is used for accelerating ions in a cyclotron, and for measuring the masses of an ionized analyte in mass spectrometry, particularly with Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometers...
  
  
• IETS - Inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy
  Inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy
  Inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy is an experimental tool for studying the vibrations of molecular adsorbates on metal oxides. It yields vibrational spectra of the adsorbates with high resolution Inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy (IETS) is an experimental tool for studying the...
  
  
• IGA - Intelligent gravimetric analysis
• IIX - Ion induced X-ray analysis: See Particle induced X-ray emission
• INS - Ion neutralization spectroscopy
  Inelastic neutron scattering
  Inelastic neutron scattering
  Inelastic neutron scattering is an experimental technique commonly used in condensed matter research to study atomic and molecular motion as well as magnetic and crystal field excitations....
  
  
• IRS - Infrared spectroscopy
  Infrared spectroscopy
  Infrared spectroscopy is the spectroscopy that deals with the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum, that is light with a longer wavelength and lower frequency than visible light. It covers a range of techniques, mostly based on absorption spectroscopy. As with all spectroscopic...
  
  
• ISS - Ion scattering spectroscopy
  Low-energy ion scattering
  Low-energy ion scattering spectroscopy , sometimes referred to simply as ion scattering spectroscopy , is a surface-sensitive analytical technique used to characterize the chemical and structural makeup of materials...
  
  
• ITC - Isothermal titration calorimetry
  Isothermal Titration Calorimetry
  Isothermal titration calorimetry is a physical technique used to determine the thermodynamic parameters of interactions in solution. It is most often used to study the binding of small molecules to larger macromolecules .-Thermodynamic measurements:ITC is a quantitative technique that can...
  
  
• IVEM - Intermediate voltage electron microscopy

L

• List of materials analysis methods (deliberate self-link)
• LALLS - Low-angle laser light scattering
  Low-angle laser light scattering
  Low-angle laser light scattering or LALLS is an application of light scattering that is particularly useful in conjunction with the technique of Size exclusion chromatography, one of the most powerful and widely-used techniques to study the molecular weight distribution of a polymer.Typically the...
  
  
• LC-MS - Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry
  Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry
  Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry is an analytical chemistry technique that combines the physical separation capabilities of liquid chromatography with the mass analysis capabilities of mass spectrometry. LC-MS is a powerful technique used for many applications which has very high...
  
  
• LEED - Low-energy electron diffraction
• LEEM - Low-energy electron microscopy
  Low-energy electron microscopy
  Low-energy electron microscopy, or LEEM, is an analytical surface science technique invented by Ernst Bauer in 1962, however, not fully developed until 1985. LEEM is a technique used by surface scientists to image atomically clean surfaces, atom-surface interactions, and thin films...
  
  
• LEIS - Low-energy ion scattering
  Low-energy ion scattering
  Low-energy ion scattering spectroscopy , sometimes referred to simply as ion scattering spectroscopy , is a surface-sensitive analytical technique used to characterize the chemical and structural makeup of materials...
  
  
• LIBS - Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy
  Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy
  Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy is a type of atomic emission spectroscopy which uses a highly energetic laser pulse as the excitation source. The laser is focused to form a plasma, which atomizes and excites samples. In principle, LIBS can analyse any matter regardless of its physical state,...
  
  
• LOES - Laser optical emission spectroscopy
• LS - Light (Raman) scattering

M

• MALDI - Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization
  Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization
  Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization is a soft ionization technique used in mass spectrometry, allowing the analysis of biomolecules and large organic molecules , which tend to be fragile and fragment when ionized by more conventional ionization methods...
  
  
• MBE - Molecular beam epitaxy
  Molecular beam epitaxy
  Molecular beam epitaxy is one of several methods of depositing single crystals. It was invented in the late 1960s at Bell Telephone Laboratories by J. R. Arthur and Alfred Y. Cho.-Method:...
  
  
• MEIS - Medium energy ion scattering
• MFM - Magnetic force microscopy
• MIT - Magnetic induction tomography
  Magnetic induction tomography
  Magnetic induction tomography is an imaging technique used to image electromagnetic properties of an object by using the eddy current effect. It is also called electromagnetic induction tomography, electromagnetic tomography , eddy current tomography, and eddy current testing.-Applications:The...
  
  
• MPM - Multiphoton fluorescence microscopy
• MRFM - Magnetic resonance force microscopy
  Magnetic Resonance Force Microscopy
  Magnetic resonance force microscopy is an imaging technique that acquires magnetic resonance images at nanometer scales, and possibly at atomic scales in the future. MRFM is potentially able to observe protein structures which cannot be seen using X-ray crystallography and protein nuclear...
  
  
• MRI - Magnetic resonance imaging
  Magnetic resonance imaging
  Magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear magnetic resonance imaging , or magnetic resonance tomography is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to visualize detailed internal structures...
  
  
• MS - Mass spectrometry
  Mass spectrometry
  Mass spectrometry is an analytical technique that measures the mass-to-charge ratio of charged particles.It is used for determining masses of particles, for determining the elemental composition of a sample or molecule, and for elucidating the chemical structures of molecules, such as peptides and...
  
  
• MS/MS - Tandem mass spectrometry
  Tandem mass spectrometry
  Tandem mass spectrometry, also known as MS/MS or MS2, involves multiple steps of mass spectrometry selection, with some form of fragmentation occurring in between the stages.-Tandem MS instruments:...
  
  
• MSGE - Mechanically Stimulated Gas Emission
  Mechanically Stimulated Gas Emission
  - Phenomenology :Mechanically stimulated gas emission is a complex phenomenon embracing various physical and chemical processes occurring on the surface and in the bulk of a solid under applied mechanical stress and resulting in emission of gases. MSGE is a part of a more general phenomenon of...
  
  
• Mössbauer spectroscopy - Mössbauer spectroscopy
• MTA - Microthermal analysis
  Microthermal analysis
  Microthermal analysis is a materials characterization technique which combines the thermal analysis principles of differential scanning calorimetry with high spatial resolution of scanning probe microscopy. The instrument consists of a thermal probe which is basically a fine platinum/rhodium...
  
  

N

• NAA - Neutron activation analysis
  Neutron activation analysis
  In chemistry, neutron activation analysis is a nuclear process used for determining the concentrations of elements in a vast amount of materials. NAA allows discrete sampling of elements as it disregards the chemical form of a sample, and focuses solely on its nucleus. The method is based on...
  
  
• Nanovid microscopy - Nanovid microscopy
  Nanovid microscopy
  Nanovid microscopy, from “nanometer video-enhanced microscopy”, is a microscopic technique aimed at visualizing colloidal gold particles of 20-40 nm diameter as dynamic markers at the light microscopic level...
  
  
• ND - Neutron diffraction
  Neutron diffraction
  Neutron diffraction or elastic neutron scattering is the application of neutron scattering to the determination of the atomic and/or magnetic structure of a material: A sample to be examined is placed in a beam of thermal or cold neutrons to obtain a diffraction pattern that provides information of...
  
  
• NDP - Neutron depth profiling
  Neutron depth profiling
  Neutron depth profiling is a near-surface analysis technique that is commonly used to obtain profiles of concentration as a function of depth for certain technologically important light elements in nearly any substrate...
  
  
• NEXAFS - Near edge X-ray absorption fine structure
• NIS - Nuclear inelastic scattering/absorption
• NMR - Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy
  NMR spectroscopy
  Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, most commonly known as NMR spectroscopy, is a research technique that exploits the magnetic properties of certain atomic nuclei to determine physical and chemical properties of atoms or the molecules in which they are contained...
  
  
• NOESY - Nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy
• NRA - Nuclear reaction analysis
  Nuclear reaction analysis
  Nuclear reaction analysis is a nuclear method in materials science to obtain concentration vs. depth distributions for certain target chemical elements in a solid thin film....
  
  
• NSOM - Near-field optical microscopy
  Near-field scanning optical microscope
  Near-field scanning optical microscopy is a microscopic technique for nanostructure investigation that breaks the far field resolution limit by exploiting the properties of evanescent waves. This is done by placing the detector very close to the specimen surface...
  
  

O

• OBIC - Optical beam induced current
  Optical beam induced current
  Optical beam induced current is a semiconductor analysis technique performed using laser signal injection. The techniqueuses a scanning laser beam to create electron–hole pairs in a semiconductor sample...
  
  
• ODNMR - Optically detected magnetic resonance, see ESR or EPR
• OES - Optical emission spectroscopy
• Osmometry - Osmometry

P

• PAS - Positron annihilation spectroscopy
  Positron annihilation spectroscopy
  Positron annihilation spectroscopy or sometimes specifically referred to as Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy is a non-destructive spectroscopy technique to study voids and defects in solids....
  
  
• Photoacoustic spectroscopy - Photoacoustic spectroscopy
  Photoacoustic spectroscopy
  Photoacoustic spectroscopy is the measurement of the effect of absorbed electromagnetic energy on matter by means of acoustic detection. The discovery of the photoacoustic effect dates to 1880 when Alexander Graham Bell showed that thin discs emitted sound when exposed to a beam of sunlight that...
  
  
• PAT or PACT - Photoacoustic tomography
  Photoacoustic tomography
  Photoacoustic tomography , or photoacoustic computed tomography , is a materials analysis technique based on the reconstruction of an internal photoacoustic source distribution from measurements acquired by scanning ultrasound detectors over a surface that encloses the source under...
  
   or photoacoustic computed tomography
• PAX - Photoemission of adsorbed xenon
• PC or PCS - Photocurrent spectroscopy
• Phase contrast microscopy - Phase contrast microscopy
  Phase contrast microscopy
  Phase contrast microscopy is an optical microscopy illumination technique of great importance to biologists in which small phase shifts in the light passing through a transparent specimen are converted into amplitude or contrast changes in the image.A phase contrast microscope does not require...
  
  
• PhD - Photoelectron diffraction
• PD - Photodesorption
• PDEIS - Potentiodynamic electrochemical impedance spectroscopy
• PDS - Photothermal deflection spectroscopy
• PED - Photoelectron diffraction
• PEELS - parallel electron energy loss spectroscopy
  Electron energy loss spectroscopy
  In electron energy loss spectroscopy a material is exposed to a beam of electrons with a known, narrow range of kinetic energies. Some of the electrons will undergo inelastic scattering, which means that they lose energy and have their paths slightly and randomly deflected...
  
  
• PEEM - Photoemission electron microscopy (or photoelectron emission microscopy)
• PES - Photoelectron spectroscopy
• PINEM - photon-induced near-field electron microscopy
• PIGE - Particle (or proton) induced gamma-ray spectroscopy, see Nuclear reaction analysis
  NRA
  NRA is an abbreviation that may mean:* National regulatory authorities , government agencies tasked with regulating and supervising sections of public service and economy...
  
  
• PIXE - Particle (or proton) induced X-ray spectroscopy
  PIXE
  Particle-induced X-ray emission or proton-induced X-ray emission is a technique used in the determining of the elemental make-up of a material or sample. When a material is exposed to an ion beam, atomic interactions occur that give off EM radiation of wavelengths in the x-ray part of the...
  
  
• PL - Photoluminescence
  Photoluminescence
  Photoluminescence is a process in which a substance absorbs photons and then re-radiates photons. Quantum mechanically, this can be described as an excitation to a higher energy state and then a return to a lower energy state accompanied by the emission of a photon...
  
  
• Porosimetry - Porosimetry
  Porosimetry
  Porosimetry is an analytical technique used to determine various quantifiable aspects of a material's porous nature, such as pore diameter, total pore volume, surface area, and bulk and absolute densities....
  
  
• Powder diffraction - Powder diffraction
  Powder diffraction
  Powder diffraction is a scientific technique using X-ray, neutron, or electron diffraction on powder or microcrystalline samples for structural characterization of materials.-Explanation:...
  
  
• PTMS - Photothermal microspectroscopy
  Photothermal microspectroscopy
  Photothermal microspectroscopy , alternatively known as photothermal temperature fluctuation , is derived from two parent instrumental techniques: infrared spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy...
  
  
• PTS - Photothermal spectroscopy
  Photothermal spectroscopy
  Photothermal spectroscopy is a group of high sensitivity spectroscopy techniques used to measure optical absorption and thermal characteristics of a sample. The basis of photothermal spectroscopy is the change in thermal state of the sample resulting from the absorption of radiation. Light absorbed...
  
  

R

• Raman - Raman spectroscopy
  Raman spectroscopy
  Raman spectroscopy is a spectroscopic technique used to study vibrational, rotational, and other low-frequency modes in a system.It relies on inelastic scattering, or Raman scattering, of monochromatic light, usually from a laser in the visible, near infrared, or near ultraviolet range...
  
  
• RAXRS - Resonant anomalous X-ray scattering
• RBS - Rutherford backscattering spectrometry
• REM - Reflection electron microscopy
• RDS - Reflectance Difference Spectroscopy
  Reflectance Difference Spectroscopy
  Reflectance difference spectroscopy is a spectroscopic technique which measures the difference in reflectance of two beams of light that are shone in normal incident on a surface with different linear polarizations...
  
  
• RHEED - Reflection high energy electron diffraction
  RHEED
  Reflection high-energy electron diffraction is a technique used to characterize the surface of crystalline materials. RHEED systems gather information only from the surface layer of the sample, which distinguishes RHEED from other materials characterization methods that also rely on diffraction of...
  
  
• RIMS - Resonance ionization mass spectrometry
• RIXS - Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering
  Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering
  Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering is an x-ray spectroscopy technique used to investigate the electronic structure of molecules and materials....
  
  
• RR spectroscopy - Resonance Raman spectroscopy
  Resonance Raman spectroscopy
  Resonance Raman spectroscopy is a specialized implementation of the more general Raman spectroscopy.- Overview :As in Raman spectroscopy, RR spectroscopy provides information about the vibrations of molecules, and can also be used for identifying unknown substances. RR spectroscopy has found wide...
  
  

S

• SAD - Selected area diffraction
  Selected area diffraction
  Selected area diffraction , is a crystallographic experimental technique that can be performed inside a transmission electron microscope ....
  
  
• SAED - Selected area electron diffraction
  Selected area diffraction
  Selected area diffraction , is a crystallographic experimental technique that can be performed inside a transmission electron microscope ....
  
  
• SAM - Scanning Auger microscopy
• SANS - Small angle neutron scattering
  Small angle neutron scattering
  Small angle neutron scattering is a laboratory technique, similar to the often complementary techniques of small angle X-ray scattering and light scattering, used for investigations of structure of various substances, with spatial sensitivity of about 1 - 1000 nm...
  
  
• SAXS - Small angle X-ray scattering
  SAXS
  Small-angle scattering is a fundamental method for structure analysis of materials, including biological materials. Small-angle scattering allows one to study the structure of a variety of objects such as solutions of biological macromolecules, nanocomposites, alloys, synthetic polymers, etc...
  
  
• SCANIIR - Surface composition by analysis of neutral species and ion-impact radiation
• SCEM - Scanning confocal electron microscopy
  Scanning confocal electron microscopy
  Scanning confocal electron microscopy is an electron microscopy technique analogous to scanning confocal optical microscopy . In this technique, the studied sample is illuminated by a focussed electron beam, as in other scanning microscopy techniques, such as scanning transmission electron...
  
  
• SE - Spectroscopic ellipsometry
  Ellipsometry
  Ellipsometry is an optical technique for the investigation of the dielectric properties of thin films....
  
  
• SEC - Size exclusion chromatography
  Size exclusion chromatography
  Size-exclusion chromatography is a chromatographic method in which molecules in solution are separated by their size, and in some cases molecular weight . It is usually applied to large molecules or macromolecular complexes such as proteins and industrial polymers...
  
  
• SEIRA - Surface enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy
• SEM - Scanning electron microscopy
  Scanning electron microscope
  A scanning electron microscope is a type of electron microscope that images a sample by scanning it with a high-energy beam of electrons in a raster scan pattern...
  
  
• SERS - Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy
  Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy
  Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy or surface enhanced Raman scattering is a surface-sensitive technique that enhances Raman scattering by molecules adsorbed on rough metal surfaces...
  
  
• SERRS - Surface enhanced resonance Raman spectroscopy
• SEXAFS - Surface extended X-ray absorption fine structure
  Surface extended X-ray absorption fine structure
  Surface extended X-ray absorption fine structure is the surface sensitive equivalent of the EXAFS technique. This technique involves the illumination of the sample by high intensity X-ray beams from a synchrotron and monitoring their photoabsorption by detecting in the intensity of Auger electrons...
  
  
• SICM - Scanning ion-conductance microscopy
  Scanning ion-conductance microscopy
  The scanning ion-conductance microscope consists of an electrically charged glass micro- or nanopipette probe filled with electrolyte lowered toward the surface of the sample in an oppositely charged bath of electrolyte...
  
  
• SIL - Solid immersion lens
  Solid immersion lens
  A solid immersion lens has higher magnification and higher numerical aperture than common lenses by filling the object space with a high-refractive-index solid material...
  
  
• SIM - Solid immersion mirror
• SIMS - Secondary ion mass spectrometry
  Secondary ion mass spectrometry
  Secondary ion mass spectrometry is a technique used in materials science and surface science to analyze the composition of solid surfaces and thin films by sputtering the surface of the specimen with a focused primary ion beam and collecting and analyzing ejected secondary ions...
  
  
• SNMS - Sputtered neutral species mass spectrometry
• SNOM - Scanning near-field optical microscopy
• SPECT - Single photon emission computed tomography
  Single photon emission computed tomography
  Single-photon emission computed tomography is a nuclear medicine tomographic imaging technique using gamma rays. It is very similar to conventional nuclear medicine planar imaging using a gamma camera. However, it is able to provide true 3D information...
  
  
• SPM - Scanning probe microscopy
  Scanning probe microscopy
  Scanning Probe Microscopy is a branch of microscopy that forms images of surfaces using a physical probe that scans the specimen. An image of the surface is obtained by mechanically moving the probe in a raster scan of the specimen, line by line, and recording the probe-surface interaction as a...
  
  
• SRM-CE/MS - Selected-reaction-monitoring capillary-electrophoresis
  Capillary electrophoresis
  Capillary electrophoresis , also known as capillary zone electrophoresis , can be used to separate ionic species by their charge and frictional forces and hydrodynamic radius. In traditional electrophoresis, electrically charged analytes move in a conductive liquid medium under the influence of an...
  
   mass-spectrometry
  Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry
  Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry is an analytical chemistry technique that combines the physical separation capabilities of liquid chromatography with the mass analysis capabilities of mass spectrometry. LC-MS is a powerful technique used for many applications which has very high...
  
  
• SSNMR - Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance
  Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance
  Solid-state NMR spectroscopy is a kind of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, characterized by the presence of anisotropic interactions.-Introduction:Basic concepts...
  
  
• Stark spectroscopy - Stark spectroscopy
  Stark effect
  The Stark effect is the shifting and splitting of spectral lines of atoms and molecules due to presence of an external static electric field. The amount of splitting and or shifting is called the Stark splitting or Stark shift. In general one distinguishes first- and second-order Stark effects...
  
  
• STED - Stimulated Emission Depletion microscopy
• STEM - Scanning transmission electron microscopy
  Scanning transmission electron microscopy
  A scanning transmission electron microscope is a type of transmission electron microscope . As with any transmission illumination scheme, the electrons pass through a sufficiently thin specimen...
  
  
• STM - Scanning tunneling microscopy
  Scanning tunneling microscope
  A scanning tunneling microscope is an instrument for imaging surfaces at the atomic level. Its development in 1981 earned its inventors, Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer , the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986. For an STM, good resolution is considered to be 0.1 nm lateral resolution and...
  
  
• STS - Scanning tunneling spectroscopy
  Scanning tunneling spectroscopy
  Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy is an extension of Scanning Tunneling Microscopy which is used to provide information about the density of electrons in a sample as a function of their energy....
  
  
• SXRD - Surface X-ray Diffraction (SXRD)

T

• TAT or TACT - Thermoacoustic tomography or thermoacoustic computed tomography (see also photoacoustic tomography
  Photoacoustic tomography
  Photoacoustic tomography , or photoacoustic computed tomography , is a materials analysis technique based on the reconstruction of an internal photoacoustic source distribution from measurements acquired by scanning ultrasound detectors over a surface that encloses the source under...
  
   - PAT)
• TEM - transmission electron microscope/microscopy
• TGA - Thermogravimetric analysis
  Thermogravimetric analysis
  Thermogravimetric analysis or thermal gravimetric analysis is a type of testing performed on samples that determines changes in weight in relation to change in temperature. Such analysis relies on a high degree of precision in three measurements: weight, temperature, and temperature change...
  
  
• TIKA - Transmitting ion kinetic analysis
• TIRFM - Total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy
• TLS - Photothermal lens spectroscopy, a type of Photothermal spectroscopy
  Photothermal spectroscopy
  Photothermal spectroscopy is a group of high sensitivity spectroscopy techniques used to measure optical absorption and thermal characteristics of a sample. The basis of photothermal spectroscopy is the change in thermal state of the sample resulting from the absorption of radiation. Light absorbed...
  
  
• TMA - Thermomechanical analysis
  Thermomechanical analysis
  Thermomechanical analysis is a technique used in thermal analysis, a branch of materials science which studies the properties of materials as they change with temperature....
  
  
• TOF-MS - Time-of-flight mass spectrometry
  Time-of-flight mass spectrometry
  Time-of-flight mass spectrometry is a method of mass spectrometry in which an ion's mass-to-charge ratio is determined via a time measurement. Ions are accelerated by an electric field of known strength. This acceleration results in an ion having the same kinetic energy as any other ion that has...
  
  
• Two-photon excitation microscopy - Two-photon excitation microscopy
  Two-photon excitation microscopy
  Two-photon excitation microscopy is a fluorescence imaging technique that allows imaging of living tissue up to a very high depth, that is up to about one millimeter. Being a special variant of the multiphoton fluorescence microscope, it uses red-shifted excitation light which can also excite...
  
  
• TXRF - Total reflection X-ray fluorescence
  X-ray fluorescence
  X-ray fluorescence is the emission of characteristic "secondary" X-rays from a material that has been excited by bombarding with high-energy X-rays or gamma rays...
  
   analysis

U

• Ultrasound attenuation spectroscopy - Ultrasound attenuation spectroscopy
  Ultrasound attenuation spectroscopy
  Ultrasound attenuation spectroscopy is a method for characterizing properties of fluids and dispersed particles. It is also known as acoustic spectroscopyThere is an international standard for this method....
  
  
• Ultrasonic testing - Ultrasonic testing
• UPS - UV-photoelectron spectroscopy
  Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy
  Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy or ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry refers to absorption spectroscopy or reflectance spectroscopy in the ultraviolet-visible spectral region. This means it uses light in the visible and adjacent ranges...
  
  
• UV-Vis - Ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy

V

• VEDIC - Video-enhanced differential interference contrast microscopy
  Differential interference contrast microscopy
  Differential interference contrast microscopy , also known as Nomarski Interference Contrast or Nomarski microscopy, is an optical microscopy illumination technique used to enhance the contrast in unstained, transparent samples...
  
  
• Voltammetry - Voltammetry
  Voltammetry
  Voltammetry is a category of electroanalytical methods used in analytical chemistry and various industrial processes. In voltammetry, information about an analyte is obtained by measuring the current as the potential is varied.- Three electrode system :...
  
  

W

• WAXS - Wide angle X-ray scattering
  Wide angle X-ray scattering
  Wide angle X-ray scattering or Wide angle X-ray diffraction is an X-ray diffraction technique that is often used to determine the crystalline structure of polymers...
  
  
• WDX or WDS - Wavelength dispersive X-ray spectroscopy
  Wavelength dispersive X-ray spectroscopy
  The Wavelength dispersive X-ray spectroscopy is a method used to count the number of X-rays of a specific wavelength diffracted by a crystal. The wavelength of the impinging x-ray and the crystal's lattice spacings are related by Bragg's law and produce constructive interference if they fit the...
  
  

X

• XAES - X-ray induced Auger electron spectroscopy
• XANES - XANES
  XANES
  X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure , also known as Near edge X-ray absorption fine structure is a type of absorption spectroscopy. NEXAFS also at times used the abbreviation EXAFS....
  
  , synonymous with NEXAFS (Near edge X-ray absorption fine structure)
• XAS - X-ray absorption spectroscopy
• X-CTR - X-ray crystal truncation rod
  X-ray crystal truncation rod
  X-ray crystal truncation rod scattering is a powerful method in surface science, based on analysis of surface X-ray diffraction patterns from a crystalline surface....
  
   scattering
• X-ray crystallography - X-ray crystallography
  X-ray crystallography
  X-ray crystallography is a method of determining the arrangement of atoms within a crystal, in which a beam of X-rays strikes a crystal and causes the beam of light to spread into many specific directions. From the angles and intensities of these diffracted beams, a crystallographer can produce a...
  
  
• XDS - X-ray diffuse scattering
• XPEEM - X-ray photoelectron emission microscopy
• XPS - X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
  X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
  X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is a quantitative spectroscopic technique that measures the elemental composition, empirical formula, chemical state and electronic state of the elements that exist within a material...
  
  
• XRD - X-ray diffraction
• XRES - X-ray resonant exchange scattering
• XRF - X-ray fluorescence
  X-ray fluorescence
  X-ray fluorescence is the emission of characteristic "secondary" X-rays from a material that has been excited by bombarding with high-energy X-rays or gamma rays...
  
   analysis
• XRR - X-ray reflectivity
  X-ray reflectivity
  X-ray reflectivity sometimes known as X-ray specular reflectivity, X-ray reflectometry, or XRR, is a surface-sensitive analytical technique used in chemistry, physics, and materials science to characterize surfaces, thin films and multilayers...
  
  
• XRS - X-ray Raman scattering
  X-ray Raman scattering
  X-ray Raman scattering is non-resonant inelastic scattering of x-rays from core electrons.It is analogous to Raman scattering, which is a largely used tool inoptical spectroscopy, with the difference being that the wavelengths of the...
  
  
• XSW - X-ray standing wave
  X-ray standing waves
  - The X-ray standing wave technique :The X-ray standing wave technique can be used to study the structure of surfaces and interfaces with high spatial resolution and chemical selectivity. Pioneered by B.W...
  
  technique