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Continuous electrical in situ contact area measurement during instrumented indentation

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Abstract

The primary tool for mechanical characterization of surfaces and films is instrumented indentation using the Oliver-Pharr data analysis method. However, this method measures contact area between the indenter and sample indirectly, thus confounding instrumented indentation tests when characterizing dynamic properties, thin films, and materials that “pileup” around the indenter. Here, we demonstrate an electrical technique to continuously measure the in situ contact area by relating nonlinear electrical contact current–voltage (I–V) curves to the instantaneous contact area. Using this approach, we can obtain hardness as a continuous function of applied force.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by United States National Science Foundation through program No. 0528234. This publication was also supported by the Pennsylvania State University Materials Research Institute NanoFabrication Network, the National Science Foundation Cooperative Agreement No. 0335765, and National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network, with Cornell University. A. Romasco and C.L. Muhlstein acknowledge the support of the 3M Foundation and Corning, Inc. We also thank Prof. Patrick Lenahan, Prof. Mark Horn, Prof. Suzanne Mohney, Kedar Shah, Chad Eichfeld, and Patrick Raynaud for useful discussion and assistance with this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, USA

    Lei Fang & Lawrence H. Friedman

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, USA

    Christopher L. Muhlstein, James G. Collins & Amber L. Romasco

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  1. Lei Fang
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  2. Christopher L. Muhlstein
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  3. James G. Collins
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  4. Amber L. Romasco
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  5. Lawrence H. Friedman
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Correspondence to Christopher L. Muhlstein.

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Fang, L., Muhlstein, C.L., Collins, J.G. et al. Continuous electrical in situ contact area measurement during instrumented indentation. Journal of Materials Research 23, 2480–2485 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2008.0298

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2008.0298

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