Several Characterization techniques exist to investigate the microstructure of a material or analyse failure post mortem:

• Light optical microscopy (LOM): standard visualization technique with 3D visualization option
• Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX): high magnification investigation of surface and bulk characteristics and analysis of the elemental composition. Possibility to perform fracture surface and microstructural investigation.
• Transmission electron microscopy (TEM): Characterization of precipitates
• Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD): crystallographic characterization of materials. e.g. texture analysis, phase identification, local strain visualization, ...