The mechanical properties of films or very small volumes of materials cannot be measured using conventional techniques. Nanoscale mechanical testing methods, including indentation, tension, compression, and scratching, have been developed to probe various mechanical responses of materials at depths of tens of nanometers over regions with dimensions of hundreds of nanometers.

Capabilities include:

• Measure changes in mechanical properties as a function of depth or load using the mode of continuous stiffness measurement.
• Measure material length scales and size effects resulting from dislocation concentrations and dislocation interactions with other structural defects.
• Measure changes in material properties resulting from impurities, second phase inclusions, or engineered nanostructures.
• Ex-situ high-throughput nanoindendentation and nanoscratch.
• Dedicated JEOL (IT300HR and IT500HR) and FEI (Scios and Apreo 2) Field Emission SEMs for in-situ, high-throughput, or long-term nanomechanics experiments.

Multiple Bruker/Hysitron SEM and TEM Picoindenters Capabilities:

• These systems have a load range from 1 μN to 3.5 N, offer in-situ indentation, bending, compression, tension and scratch/wear capabilities, include a heating stage rated to 800°C and an electrical characterization package, and have outstanding resolution of both load (<1 μN) and displacement (<1 nm). Includes PI 89, 85 and 95 systems).

Bruker/Hysitron Tribo 950, 980 system and Keysight G200 Nanoindenters Capabilities:

• High-speed (6 indents/second), high-temperature (600°C), and high-load (10 N) modalities facilitating quantitative nanomechanical and nanotribological property mapping as a function of temperature, and atmosphere at the nano- and meso-scale.

Contacts:
Nan Li
Brad Boyce
Frank Delrio

Research Highlights:

In Situ Micro-Pillar Compression to Examine Radiation-Induced Hardening Mechanisms of FeCrAl Alloys
Cui, Y.; Aydogan, E.; Gigax, J. G.; Wang, Y.; Misra, A.; Maloy, S. A.; Li, N. Acta Materialia 2021, 202, 255–265. doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2020.10.047

Eliciting stable nanoscale fracture in single-crystal silicon
DelRio, F. W.; Grutzik, S. J.; Mook, W. M.; Dickens, S. M.; Kotula, P. G.; Hintsala, E. D.; Stauffer, D. D.; Boyce, B. L. Materials Research Letters 2022, 10 (11), 728–735. doi.org/10.1080/21663831.2022.2088251

Solute segregation improves the high-cycle fatigue resistance of nanocrystalline Pt-Au
Heckman, N. M.; Barrios, A.; Barr, C. M.; Adams, D. P.; Furnish, T. A.; Hattar, K.; Boyce, B. L. Acta Materialia 2022, 229, 117794. doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2022.117794