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Effect of temperature on metastable phases induced in silicon during nanoindentation

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Abstract

Indentations were performed on silicon using a Berkovich indenter at loads up to 12 mN, at temperatures from 20 to 135 °C. Transmission electron microscopy revealed crystalline silicon phases in the residual indentation imprint at and above 35 °C. Also, the first reconfirmation of the occurrence of Si-VIII during unloading was observed at temperatures of 100 and 125 °C. Interestingly, at 125 °C a cavity was also observed, and an unidentifiable phase was observed at 135 °C. The observations show the strong effect of temperature on pressure-induced phase transformation in silicon.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. Z.H. Xie and Mr. Lance Kuhn (Hysitron. Inc.,) for their experimental suggestions. Dr. Avi Bendavid and Dr. Phil Martin of the Department of Industrial Physics, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Sydney, are also thanked for providing the silicon wafer used in this work. The Department of Education and Science and Technology, Australia, is acknowledged for providing an International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (Rajinish K. Singh) and the Australian Research Council for funding the research.

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  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of New South Wales, New South Wales, 2052, Australia

    Rajnish K. Singh, Paul Munroe & Mark Hoffman

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  1. Rajnish K. Singh
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  2. Paul Munroe
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Correspondence to Rajnish K. Singh.

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Singh, R.K., Munroe, P. & Hoffman, M. Effect of temperature on metastable phases induced in silicon during nanoindentation. Journal of Materials Research 23, 245–249 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.2008.0023

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