Instrumented Indentation Testing

INSTRUMENTED INDENTATION TESTING (IIT), also known as depth-sensing indentation, continuous-recording indentation, ultra-low-load indentation, and nanoindentation, is a relatively new form of mechanical testing that significantly expands on the capabilities of traditional hardness testing. Developed largely over the past two decades, IIT employs high-resolution instrumentation to continuously control and monitor the loads and displacements of an indenter as it is driven into and withdrawn from a material (Ref 1–13). Depending on the details of the specific testing system, loads as small as 1 nN can be applied, and displacements of 0.1 nm (1 A) can be measured. Mechanical properties are derived from the indentation load-displacement data obtained in simple tests. The advantages of IIT are numerous, as indentation load-displacement data contain a wealth of information, and techniques have been developed for characterizing a variety of mechanical properties. The technique most frequently employed measures the hardness, but it also gives the elastic modulus (Young’s modulus) from the same data (Ref 8, 11). Although not as well-developed, methods have also been devised for evaluating the yield stress and strain-hardening characteristic of metals (Ref 14–16); parameters characteristic of damping and internal friction in polymers, such as the storage and loss modulus (Ref 17, 18); and the activation energy and stress exponent for creep (Ref 19–25). IIT has even been used to estimate the fracture toughness of brittle materials using optical measurement of the lengths of cracks that have formed at the corners of hardness impressions made with special sharp indenters (Ref 13, 26, 27). In fact, almost any material property that can be measured in a uniaxial tension or compression test can conceivably be measured, or at least estimated, using IIT. An equally important advantage of IIT results because load-displacement data can be used to determine mechanical properties without having to image the hardness impressions. This facilitates property measurement at very small scales. Mechanical properties are routinely measured from submicron indentations, and with careful technique, properties have even been determined from indentations only a few nanometers deep. Because of this, IIT has become a primary tool for examining thin films, coatings, and materials with surfaces modified by techniques such as ion implantation and laser heat treatment. Many IIT testing systems are equipped with automated specimen manipulation stages. In these systems, the spatial distribution of the near-surface mechanical properties can be mapped on a point-to-point basis along the surface in a fully automated way. Lateral spatial resolutions of about a micron have been achieved. An example of small indentations located at specific points in an electronic microcircuit is shown in Fig. 1. The purpose of this article is to provide a practical reference guide for instrumented indentation testing. Emphasis is placed on the better-developed measurement techniques and the procedures and calibrations required to obtain accurate and meaningful measurements.