What is Nanoindentation Tester?
Nanoindentation testers are instruments designed to measure mechanical properties (e.g. hardness and elastic modulus) of various materials. Nanoindentation testers operate as follows to calculate the properties at the nanoscale from the obtained force vs. displacement curve without observing indentations.
(1) A nanoindentation probe detects a sample surface and finds an origin of a measurement
(2) Pressing the nanoindentation probe into the sample surface with designated load
(3) Unloading the nanoindentation probe from the sample surface
Fig. 1. Nanoindentation testing
Nanoindentation testing has various applications such as plating, hard-coating, DLC, functional resin film and surface modified layer. Nanoindentation testing can be also utilized for analyzing micro-particles and powder materials by using suitable nanoindentation probes.
Fig. 2. Applications of nanoindentation testing
Nanoindentation testers are widely used in various industries such as semiconductors, energy, automobiles, steels, biological materials and new material development.