Abstract: The characterization and application effect of electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA) in metal materials test were introduced through examples. The results show that EPMA could directly displayed the content and distribution of the surface layer elements of the alloy, the distribution characteristics of the corresponding elements after corrosion, the mapping distribution characteristics of the zinc elements in the aluminum alloy under different heat treatment processes and the diffusion morphology of tellurium element during the process of tellurium permeation on the surface of the nickel-base alloy. EPMA can play a role in product test, failure analysis, process optimization, fundamental research and so on.