Time‐of‐flight secondary ion mass spectrometric analysis of polymer surfaces: A review

Abstract Time of flight‐secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF‐SIMS) is a SIMS based surface sensitive technique that provide specific compound identification of surface molecules. Recently, the importance of ToF‐SIMS has grown for the characterization and utilization of polymers, pharmaceuticals, semi‐conductors. The compound specificity of ToF‐SIMS distinguishes it from other surface characterization techniques such as X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), and so forth, making it a preferred tool for the effective surface analysis of polymers. The purpose of this review is to elucidate the capability of ToF‐SIMS technique to effectively analyze the surface chemistry of polymer materials.