TOF-SIMS (TOF: time of flight) imaging has been widely used in many laboratories for surface characterization purposes as well as an actual problem solving tool. In this paper, to optimize the quality of TOF-SIMS imaging, we investigated the instrumental variables, which include the ion beam pulse width, the ion beam current, the use of beam bunching, and the primary ion beam species. These experimental parameters will determine the special resolution, sensitivity, and mass resolution. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.