Two- or three-dimensional representation of the sample surface where the information at each point in the representation, given by a brightness or colour or as a length in a third dimension, is related to the output signal from a detector or processed intensity information from the available software.
See also: elemental map, chemical map
Source:
PAC, 2020, 92, 1781. 'Glossary of methods and terms used in surface chemical analysis (IUPAC Recommendations 2020)' on page 1816 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2019-0404)