Acquisition of a Nanoindenter for Materials Research & Education

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This grant provides support for the acquisition of a nanoindenter for materials research and education at Carnegie-Mellon University. Installation of this instrument will benefit research and education programs in the Materials Science and Engineering department and across a broad range of activities in the engineering and science colleges. It will be the first such instrument at CMU. This new instrument offers the required capability of testing mechanical properties at the sub-micron scale. It will be a multi-user instrument that will be used for at least five major research projects, including one industrial partner.The major use of the instrument will be for research on dislocation structures from plastic deformation, cermet composites, thin films for microelectronic applications, probing of biological systems via mechanical properties, and oxide thin films for coatings. Anticipated results include a more fundamental understanding of the interaction between dislocations and grain boundaries; new insights into strain gradient plasticity; a more detailed understanding of mechanical property microstructure property relationships in cermets; an improved understanding of microstructural evolution in thin copper films for microelectronic applications; and information about the reaction of proteins to their environment. It is anticipated that researchers from other areas such as microelectromechanical systems and tissue engineering will request occasional use of the instrument.The scope of use of the instrument is broad and its acquisition will thus have broad impact on scientific activity in the materials area for Carnegie-Mellon University and its collaborators. Undergraduates will be trained in the use of a state-of-the-art instrument for probing mechanical properties through formal laboratory exercises. Current and future graduate students will have access to a much-needed tool to make advances in their research programs.