4. Analysis of the physico-chemical properties of the processed layer

In recent years, the need to characterize the properties of engineered materials as close as possible to the growth stage has led to the development of numerous instrumental assemblies linked by vacuum transfer devices (cluster tools). This is particularly interesting in the case of air-sensitive materials, in order to study properties without the alteration induced by transfer to open air. These characterizations are carried out in conditions very close to in situ conditions. They are sometimes labelled as in vacuo, and will be discussed in 4.2 .