Characterisation of nanoindentation on copper using atomic force microscopy

Nanoindentation is a technique for measuring the mechanical properties of materials. It utilizes an indenter or a probe with a defined shape and under a defined load to make an indent on the surface to be measured. 

It is widely used for measuring the hardness and elastic modulus of bulk materials or coatings at the nanoscale, especially for crystalline metallic materials.

In this report, we use the new AFM from Anton Paar, the Tosca 400, to visualize and quantitatively analyze nanoindentation and pile-up geometries on a crystalline copper sample.