4. Characteristics of GDOES compared with other surface analysis methods

Comparing techniques of very different design is always a difficult exercise, especially as there are so many surface analysis methods available today. The idea here, therefore, is not to set out the principles of these different methods, but to try and present the advantages and limitations of glow discharge optical emission spectrometry compared with the few techniques in this group, which have seen significant development in industry and are used in the field of treated or coated surfaces.