Time of Flight-Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) is used to investigate the surface as well as bulk micro structural features of novel Mg-Li-Al based alloy namely Mg-9Li-7Al-35n-1Zn (LATZ9531). ToF-SIMS study indicates that there are six multi-oxide layers present within the surface film of LATZ9531. Furthermore, The presence of Li containing phase has been qualitatively confirmed based on the high number of Li-ion counts in SIMS, and the same is verified quantitatively by using electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). The novel approach may be useful to determine the chemical composition of the phases in various alloys which has lighter alloying elements such as lithium. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.