Acquisition of a Nanoindenter for Materials Research & Education

这笔赠款支持卡内基-梅隆大学购买纳米压痕，用于材料研究和教育。该仪器的安装将有利于材料科学和工程系的研究和教育项目，以及工程和理科学院的广泛活动。这将是CMU第一个这样的仪器。这种新仪器提供了在亚微米范围内测试机械性能所需的能力。它将是一个多用户仪器，将用于至少五个主要研究项目，包括一个工业合作伙伴。该仪器的主要用途将是研究塑性变形中的位错结构、金属陶瓷复合材料、微电子应用的薄膜、通过机械性能探测生物系统以及用于涂层的氧化物薄膜。预期的结果包括：对位错和晶界之间的相互作用有了更基本的了解；对应变梯度塑性有了新的见解；对金属陶瓷的力学性能、微结构和性能关系有了更详细的了解；对用于微电子应用的铜薄膜的微结构演变有了更好的理解；以及关于蛋白质对其环境的反应的信息。预计来自其他领域的研究人员，如微电子机械系统和组织工程，将偶尔要求使用该仪器。该仪器的使用范围很广，因此它的获得将对卡内基梅隆大学及其合作者在材料领域的科学活动产生广泛的影响。本科生将接受培训，通过正式的实验室练习，使用最先进的仪器来探测机械性能。现在和未来的研究生将有机会获得一个急需的工具，以在他们的研究计划中取得进展。

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.