Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

An in-situ nanoindentation tester is requested in this proposal to support on-going and future research programs of the applicants, which are heavily involved in synthesizing and testing of various nano-materials, including thin films, nanocrystalline coatings, and bulk nanocrystalline metal alloys. In particular, the equipment requested in this proposal will be mainly used for in-situ nano-indentation and nano-scratch test for mechanical characterization of nano-materials. For this purpose, the instrument will consist of an in-situ Scanning Probe Microscope (SPM, for surface topography examination) and a nanoindentation system with a hard tip that can operate in both vertical and lateral force modes for nanoindentation and nano-scratch tests, respectively. Advantages of nanoindentation (similarly for nano-scratch) over other experimental tools for testing nanomaterials include low cost, ease-of-use, no-vacuum working environment, fast measurement, readily available quantitative data (e.g., for hardness, elastic modulus, fracture toughness, etc.), and wide range of materials that can be tested (ceramics, metals, glasses, polymers, biomedical materials and biological samples, etc., in the form of thin films, coatings, or bulk). The requested equipment will be the first standardized instrument that is capable of characterizing basic mechanical properties of nanomaterials at the institution of the applicants; therefore, the equipment will be beneficial to not only the applicants and their colleagues, but also researchers from nearby institutions such as Manitoba Institute of Materials.