Nanoindentation is a well-established technique for assessing the mechanical properties of a material/sample with respect to its microstructure. The yield point and following plasticity of heterogenous materials is influenced by the crystallographic texture. When testing single grains at the microscale the signatures of anisotropic deformation behavior are exposed.

The combination of a nanomechanical testing instrument and EDS/EBSD detector for the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) allows researchers to comprehensively investigate the composition, microstructure and understanding of the deformation mechanisms of materials at the sub-micron scale. Correlations of hardness and elastic modulus maps with EDS and EBSD images can be found in the literature. These correlations are, however, just a planar analysis mostly. What options are at hand for co-localizing the structure-property relation in three dimensions?

Nano-scale dynamic mechanical analysis (nanoDMA) techniques enable to superimpose dynamic oscillations over quasistatic loads while indenting into the sample surface. Such control algorithms provide continuous measurements of mechanical properties as a function of depth. The latest generation can perform high-speed property maps over sample surface (2-dimensions) combined with depth property maps (3-dimensions).

Automated In-situ Nanoindentation (Hysitron PI89 Auto SEM) with rotational and tilt stage used in a crossbeam scanning electron microscope enables serial sectioning through the materials microstructure by focused ion beam (FIB) with subsequent EBSD measurement. The 3D EBSD data is reconstructed and processed for the distribution of local average misorientation and geometrically necessary dislocation density after the nanoindentation.

Dr. Ude Dirk Hangen