The International Standards Organisation (ISO) has a technical committee covering Surface Chemical Analysis (TC 201). The purpose of TC 201 is to develop international standards covering practices and protocols for techniques used in the chemical analysis of solid/frozen surfaces such as SIMS and XPS. The technical committee has a number of sub-committees covering different analytical techniques, terminology and sample handling. There is also a sub-committee (SC 3) on “Data Management and Treatment”.
The annual meeting of TC 201 was held in Bellingham USA, 1-3 November where SC 3 was chaired by Alex Henderson. Amongst other matters, this session covered file format requirements for scanning probe experiments and a generic format for multiple techniques. There was a broad recognition that the standard file formats currently in force are insufficient for new modalities and the volumes of data being generated by modern instrumentation.
One of the outcomes of this meeting was the formation of a new study group under SC 3 to explore “Knowledge Engineering for Surface Chemical Analysis” (SG 5) which will be led by Alex. This group will begin in January 2024 and run for three years in the first instance. More information will be available in the New Year.
UK delegation to ISO/TC 201 meeting in Bellingham USA