The usefulness of coaxial impact-collision ion scattering spectroscopy and time-of-flight elastic recoil detection analysis for in situ surface analysis, especially for elucidation of surface processes, is demonstrated by taking the following studies as examples: (1) self-restoration processes of oxygen vacancies at vacuum-annealed TiO2(1 1 0) surface, (2) effects of Mn incorporation on MBE growth of GaMnN film, (3) growth process in hydrogen-surfactant mediated epitaxy of Ge/Si(0 0 1), and (4) structure analysis of the Si(0 0 1)2 x 3-Ag surface. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.