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Unlocking Superior Fracture Toughness in Coatings with Superlattices 🚀 Superlattices are periodic structures composed of alternating layers of different materials. Their nanoscale periodicity brings unique properties not found in bulk materials or simple layered structures. A recent paper titled "Bilayer Period and Ratio Dependent Structure and Mechanical Properties of TiN/MoNx Superlattices" by Zecui Gao et al., from the Prof. Paul Mayrhofer group, investigates the fracture toughness of transition metal nitride coatings with different superlattice bilayer ratios. The study involved producing microcantilever samples by FIB from within the coating thickness (2 μm) and testing them in-situ within the same SEM. A diamond wedge tip applied a load in displacement-controlled mode at 5 nm/s, loading against the growth direction of the film (KI mode) until failure. The findings revealed that superlattices with a bilayer ratio of 1 (equal thickness of the alternating TiN and MoNx layers) exhibit the highest fracture toughness. 🔎 Interested in learning more about fracture toughness measurements of coatings? Explore additional application examples featured in the FT-NMT04 In-Situ SEM Nanoindenter product brochure at the link below. 👉 Discover micro-cantilever fracture testing at: https://lnkd.in/esquKT2T #Superlattices #Nanotechnology #Coatings #MechanicalProperties #FractureToughness #Micromechanics

The Role of Tip Geometry in Material Deformation💎 The geometry of the indentation tip selected for your nanoindentation experiment significantly influences the material's response, dictating the relative levels of plasticity and elasticity induced. Sharper tips induce more plasticity due to the way they concentrate stress on the material being indented. When a sharp tip, such as a Berkovich or cube corner indenter, is used, the contact area with the material is very small. This small contact area creates a high concentration of stress at the point of contact. The intense stress exceeds the yield strength of the material more easily, leading to plastic deformation. In contrast, tips with a larger radius (such as a spherical indenter) distribute the applied force over a larger contact area. This reduces the stress concentration at any given point, making it less likely to exceed the yield strength and cause plastic deformation. Therefore, the material primarily exhibits elastic behavior until higher forces are applied. In the video below, you'll see examples of nanoindents obtained with different tip geometries. From top to bottom: -Cube corner indenter with a centerline-to-face angle of 34.3° -Berkovich indenter with a centerline-to-face angle of 65.27° -Conical indenter with a 10 µm tip radius The indentations were performed on ultrafine-grained (UFG) aluminum. These examples showcase how varying sharpness affects material behavior, highlighting typical plastic phenomena such as pile-up with the cube corner tip, and predominantly elastic responses with minimal marks from the spherical tip. 🔎 If the interplay between plastic and elastic phenomena fascinates you, you will love the correlated study on the temperature-induced brittle-ductile transition in silicon at the link below. 👉 Discover the Secrets of Elasto-Plastic Behaviors at: https://lnkd.in/e-CxSD2p #Nanoindentation #MaterialTesting #Nanotechnology #PlasticDeformation

Microstructure-Property Correlation at the Innovative Materials and Processes (IMAP) Group, University of North Texas (UNT)🔗 At the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton, USA, Dr. Rajiv Mishra and his team are conducting research on correlating metal microstructures with their resulting mechanical properties. Their focus includes additively manufactured alloys, high entropy alloys, and highly deformed alloys, such as those produced through friction stir welding. We are honored to announce the recent installation of the FT-NMT04 In-Situ SEM Nanoindenter in their lab. The nanoindentation mapping capability offered by the In-Situ SEM Nanoindenter provides a way to directly link observed features with the mechanical performance of the microstructure, even at elevated temperatures. 🔎Interested in what else the FT-NMT04 In-Situ SEM Nanoindenter can do? Download the product brochure at the link below to explore its features and applications. 👉Discover In-Situ SEM Nanoindentation at️ https://lnkd.in/esquKT2T #Metallurgy #AdditiveManufacturing #HighEntropyAlloys #FrictionStirWelding #Nanoindentation

Stress Drops and Dislocation Bursts: Explore the Secrets of Plasticity in Crystalline Materials💎 In crystalline materials, plastic deformation is primarily governed by the movement of dislocations. These movements can cause slip events, where sections of the crystal lattice shift, leading to a sudden drop in stress as the material temporarily relaxes. At times, dislocations move in bursts, known as dislocation avalanches, resulting in significant stress drops due to the rapid, collective motion of many dislocations. Tracking these dislocation avalanches requires a very stiff measuring head with extremely low movable mass capable of closely following material deformation. With MEMS-based measuring heads, extremely high dynamic ranges can be ensured, allowing the observation of stress drops during micro- and nanomechanical experiments. 🔎To explore how micro-pillar compression can be used to observe the onset of plasticity in silicon, check out our latest application note at the link below. 👉Explore the Effect Dislocation Avalanches at: https://lnkd.in/eF7yKEBj #PlasticDeformation #StressDrops #Nanoindentation #MaterialsScience

Splitting Hairs. Literally. 💇♀️ Pillar splitting involves practicing a nanoindentation indent on top of a micropillar sample. This technique offers an alternative way to measure fracture toughness at the nano- and micro-scale. By having a clearly defined interaction volume, it is possible to study the effects of defects and surface flaws on the toughness of the specimen. This aids in the understanding of fracture mechanics, particularly at the micro- and nano-scale. In the video, a Berkovich indent is made on a 5 µm micro-pillar produced by lithography. The pillar splitting highlights the brittle nature of silicon at room temperature. 🔎 Fracture mechanisms fascinates you? Check out our correlated application note, where automated micro-compression of have been employed to obtain statistically significant data on Silicon’s fracture strength. 👉 Discover more about Automated Fracture Testing at https://lnkd.in/eY2A-cy8 #MaterialsScience #NanoIndentation #BrittleFracture #MaterialTesting #FractureStrength

We’re Growing! 🚀 With Oxford Instruments plc now part of our journey, the sky is truly the limit! To support our expanding needs of production, R&D, and sales, we’re adding a new floor to our main building in Zurich, Switzerland. 🔎 Want to be part of something big? We’re hiring across various roles. 👉 Explore your future with us: https://lnkd.in/e_tH87Qj #Hiring #Growth #Careers #Nanoindentation #R&D #Zurich

Advancing Aircraft Safety Through Corrosion Research at UTSA ✈️ A team of researchers at the The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is working on addressing the problem of galvanic corrosion in thin film and droplet electrolytes, which causes significant damage to aircraft frames and components. Through high-resolution mechanical testing, they are able to analyze the metallurgical and mechanical properties at specific locations, allowing for the development of better tools for managing the structural life of materials. This will improve the tracking of material damage, leading to more efficient maintenance schedules, and could potentially help create predictive models to enhance flight operations and ensure aircraft safety.   We are honored to announce the installation of the FT-NMT04 In-Situ SEM Nanoindenter at the Kleberg Advanced Microscopy Center (KAMC) at UTSA. We look forward to supporting Ana Stevanovic PhD, Andrei Alfredo Hernandez Robles, David Restrepo, PhD, Brendy Rincon Troconis, and harry millwater in their high-resolution mechanical microscopy and nanomechanics research applications.   🔎Interested in what else the FT-NMT04 In-Situ SEM Nanoindenter can do? Download the product brochure at the link below to explore its features and applications.   👉Discover In-Situ SEM Nanoindentation at️ https://lnkd.in/esquKT2T   #CorrosionResearch #AircraftSafety #Nanomechanics #AdvancedMaterials #SEM #UTSA

Another Dimension to Cross-Sectional Metallographic Analysis 🌀 Cross-sectional analysis of layered systems is a cornerstone of metallographic analysis, offering immediate insights into various factors such as delamination, adhesion, diffusion layers, and more. By using fast nanoindentation, it is possible to perform a matrix of indents tightly spaced together, resulting in a map of the mechanical response of the system under analysis with micrometric lateral resolution. This technology enables the measurement, quantification, and visualization of the mechanical properties of each layer and interface at a glance. 🔎 Innovation in Action: Explore an example where cross-sectional nanoindentation mapping helped identify the presence of a distinct, more compact oxide layer in anodized aluminum—a feature that could easily go unnoticed by more traditional metallography analyses. 👉 Discover Cross-Sectional Mechanical Microscopy at: https://lnkd.in/en6rHau6 #Metallography #Nanoindentation #MaterialsScience #MechanicalMicroscopy

Exploring the Future of Polymers with High-Resolution Mechanical Microscopy🥤 Polybenzoxazine (PBz) resins are a promising yet underexplored class of polymers that could potentially replace traditional thermoset polymers like epoxy or phenolic resins. However, their complex processing has limited their broader use. In the paper "Properties and Curing Kinetics of a Processable Binary Benzoxazine Blend," Yue Tang and her team experimented with a novel blend of monomers. They combined cardanol-based benzoxazine (CA-a), a liquid monomer with excellent processability but limited cross-linking ability, and bisphenol A-based benzoxazine (BA-a), a solid monomer at room temperature with strong cross-linking capability but poor processability. To evaluate the dispersion and cross-linking of this mixture, the mechanical properties of a 440 µm x 440 µm section of the cured resin were examined at high resolution using the FT-MTA03 Micromechanical Testing and Assembly System equipped with a spherical glass tip. The bulk material exhibited high stiffness ranging between 16,300 and 18,500 N/m, while some discrete areas showed significantly lower stiffness in the 9,000–16,300 N/m range. These discrete phases can be attributed to the CA-a/BA-a copolymer areas, where the lowest stiffness is about half that of the more highly cross-linked BA-a-dominated phase. 🔎 This study is an excellent example of how mechanical microscopy can be applied to process engineering. If this interests you, check out the related study where mechanical microscopy was used to identify and label compositional gradients. Download the application note linked below. 👉 Discover Mechanical Microscopy at https://lnkd.in/dkhueW8M #Benzoxazine #PolymerScience #Nanoindentation #MechanicalMicroscopy

Handling Radioactive Specimens: How Small is Safe Enough? ☢️ Understanding material behavior during and after irradiation is an ongoing challenge in materials engineering. Irradiated materials can exhibit sharply different behaviors due the presence of point defects caused by spallation and activation caused by neutron capture. Moreover, radiation-induced phenomena like radiation hardening and strain softening through dislocation channeling are not yet fully understood. Mechanical testing of small-sized samples offers a significant advantage in studying radioactive materials. By using small samples, radiation can be kept under the licensing limit, allowing these materials to be transported and handled as non-radioactive. This simplifies the process, reducing both risks and costs associated with studying radioactive materials. 🔎Explore how nanoindentation can be used to study radiation-exposed materials at the link below. 👉Nanoindentation of Irradiated Materials: https://lnkd.in/eSaaMNJM #MaterialsScience #NuclearEngineering #RadiationSafety #Nanoindentation