Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Dr Noushin Moharrami, Professor Steve BullORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
During nanoindentation testing, there are many issues that need to be considered if high-quality data are to be obtained when testing both bulk and thin film materials. For soft materials, one of the main issues in determining mechanical properties based on the Oliver and Pharr method is the accuracy of the determined contact area due to the pile-up around the indenter leading to a significant increase in the contact area. During nanoindentation tests for both thin films and bulk materials, the deformation mechanisms and, therefore, the governing dislocation nucleation and propagation events are complex. Hence, the volume of the pile-up is not always proportional to the indentation load and its shape can vary. Therefore, an accurate measurement of the Young's modulus and hardness requires the determination of the contact area using another technique such as atomic force microscopy (AFM) or scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. In this study, AFM images obtained using the indenter tip after the main indentation cycle was completed were analysed to measure the pile-up heights and widths obtained in bulk materials (copper, gold and aluminium), and the results were compared to those from their respective thin films under similar indentation conditions. It was observed that the amount of pile-up that appeared in the thin films was considerably higher than in the bulk materials. Thin films with low hardness values deposited on harder substrates show a different plastic response under the indenter. During the indentation tests, the harder substrate does not deform to the same extent as the softer deposited coating and consequently it has an extreme effect on the degree of pile-up formation for the thin film.
Author(s): Moharrami N, Bull SJ
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Thin Solid Films
Year: 2014
Volume: 572
Pages: 189-199
Print publication date: 01/12/2014
Online publication date: 27/08/2014
Acceptance date: 20/06/2014
Date deposited: 13/01/2015
ISSN (print): 0040-6090
ISSN (electronic): 1879-2731
Publisher: Elsevier
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2014.06.060
DOI: 10.1016/j.tsf.2014.06.060
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
