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Updated: Oct 14, 2025
Atomic Force Microscopy Cantilever-Based Nanoindentation: Mechanical Property Measurements at the Nanoscale in Air and Fluid
Published on: December 2, 2022
Effect of Ion Irradiation on Nanoindentation Fracture and Deformation in Silicon Carbide
Alexander J Leide1, Richard I Todd1, David E J Armstrong1
1Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PH UK.
Abstract:
Silicon carbide is desirable for many nuclear applications, making it necessary to understand how it deforms after irradiation. Ion implantation combined with nanoindentation is commonly used to measure radiation-induced changes to mechanical properties; hardness and modulus can be calculated from load-displacement curves, and fracture toughness can be estimated from surface crack lengths. Further insight into indentation deformation and fracture is required to understand the observed changes to mechanical properties caused by irradiation. This paper investigates indentation deformation using high-resolution electron backscatter diffraction (HR-EBSD) and Raman spectroscopy. Significant differences exist after irradiation: fracture is suppressed by swelling-induced compressive residual stresses, and the plastically deformed region extends further from the indentation. During focused ion beam cross-sectioning, indentation cracks grow, and residual stresses are modified. The results clarify the mechanisms responsible for the modification of apparent hardness and apparent indentation toughness values caused by the compressive residual stresses in ion-implanted specimens.
Supplementary Information:
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11837-021-04636-8.
