Pt-C surface replicas were examined by transmission electron microscopy to study the structural details of the surfaces and fracture cross-sections of single films and multilayer thin film coatings. Manual fracturing caused artifacts in the surface and fracture face of multilayer systems. Single films are less sensitive to deformation by external mechanical forces in this fracturing process. Heat shock fracturing applied to multilayer systems and single films resulted in relatively smooth and reproducible cross-sectional areas. Most fracturing methods will reveal the characteristic film microstructures, but more or less artifactive fracture structures are always superimposed on them. The goal of this investigation was to demonstrate that the new heat shock fracturing method minimizes these disturbing artifacts and allows, in a unique way, the correlation of optical and mechanical film properties to the microstructure of the films.