Surface analysis tools are instruments and spectrometers that use surface analysis techniques such as AES (Auger Electron Spectroscopy) sometimes called Scanning Auger Microscopy (SAM); XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) also known as ESCA (Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis); and SIMS (Secondary ion mass spectrometry) to characterize the composition and structure of the top few layers of atoms in a surface. Note that there are numerous related techniques which may also qualify as "surface analysis".
Surface analysis most often uses electron, x-ray, or ion probes to remove electrons or ions from the material so as to characterize the elemental composition, chemistry and elemental distribution in a region that is, roughly, (1 to 10 nm) thick. If information is desired from a thicker region of the specimen, depth profiling techniques are often used where a high energy ion (generally between 500 and 5,000 eV) is employed to strip material off the surface and the resultant freshly exposed surface is then analyzed.