Stock Photo - 1972 - A Machine To Rival Sherlock: Palo Alto, Calif, Feb. 7 - Sophisticated detective work is the specialty of this new automated system from Varian Associates of Palo Alto. It can measure the chemical composition of the top one or two layers of atoms on a sample's surface, helping scientists and engineers discover minute contaminations that can cause huge problems in high technology fields such as microelectronics, space materials, and solar energy. The precision system, called an Automated Auger Microprobe and costing 80,000, can analyze a sample smaller than one quadrillionth of a cubic centimeter. (One cubic centimeter is smaller than an ordinary sugar cube.) Shown in the photo is the sample chamber and video screen for focusing the point of analysis. The Auger (pronounced: Oh-jay') system, named for a French physicist, is the first computerized system of its kind. (Credit Image: © Keystone Pictures USA/ZUMAPRESS.com)