Nanometer-to-micrometer Length Scale Mechanical and Tribological Characterization System

表面性能（耐磨性，硬度，表面变形）对许多组件和设备的性能要求至关重要，例如生物医学设备和航空航天应用。为了建立纳米和微观结构与材料表面机械响应之间的关系，重要的是能够使用纳米力学测试来描述高分辨率的局部结构变形，用于广泛的定制表面化学，薄膜或涂层。该方案要求一个强大且全方位的先进纳米压痕系统（Bruker TS 77纳米压痕机），该系统具有原位扫描探针显微镜（SPM）可视化系统，可以同时对材料表面结构进行SPM成像，同时进行纳米微米尺度的机械和摩擦学分析。纳米压痕已经成为测量弹性模量、硬度、蠕变、应力松弛和小尺度断裂韧性的强大替代方法，可以完全控制压痕加载和卸载速率、动态振荡、峰值载荷和其他测试参数。该技术不仅限于表面工程技术，还可用于研究材料的纳米至微米长度尺度的机械和摩擦学行为，例如：多相材料中不同相的分析，复合材料中的纤维基质界面和大块材料的微观结构分析。TS 77的独特之处在于，它使用相同的探针对样品表面进行光栅形貌成像（SPM），并进行纳米力学测试，这有助于在所需的测试地点进行定位。这种在与测试相同长度尺度上可视化样品表面的能力赋予了优越的纳米力学表征结果和数据可靠性。因此，可以实现纳米精度的测试放置精度，从而确保测试在材料上的确切期望位置进行。此外，通过在TS 77上使用原位SPM成像功能，可以根据施加的接触力、滑动速度和通过次数来测量定量磨损体积和磨损去除率，这在传统的纳米压头系统中是无法实现的。由于测试的规模，单个微结构，界面和薄膜的摩擦学性能可以很容易地测量。目前，在多伦多地区没有可用的原位SPM成像纳米压痕系统。我们认为TS 77将在学术研究和工业界对工程材料的研究、设计和优化具有重要价值。

Surface properties (wear resistance, hardness, surface deformation) are critical to the performance requirements of many components and devices, such as biomedical devices and aerospace applications. To establish a relation between nano- and microstructure and mechanical response of material surfaces, it is important to be able to characterize local structural deformations at high resolution using nanomechanical testing for a broad range of tailored surface chemistries, films or coatings. This proposal requests a robust and all-encompassing advanced nanoindentation system (Bruker TS 77 Nanoindenter) which features an in-situ Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) visualization system, to simultaneously perform SPM imaging of a material surface structure, while performing nano-micrometer length scale mechanical and tribological analysis. Nanoindentation has become a powerful alternative to measure elastic modulus, hardness, creep, stress relaxation, and fracture toughness at small scales, with full control over the indenter loading and unloading rates, dynamic oscillation, peak load, and other test parameters. This technique is not limited only to surface engineering technologies but can also be used to investigate the nanometer-to-micrometer length scale mechanical and tribological behaviour of materials in general, such as: analysis of different phases in multi-phases materials, fibre-matrix interfaces in composite materials and microstructural analysis of bulk materials. The TS 77 has the unique feature of using the same probe to raster the sample surface for topography imaging (SPM) as it does to conduct the nanomechanical test, which facilitates the positioning on desired testing sites. This ability to visualize the sample surface on the same length scale as the testing grant superior nanomechanical characterization results and data reliability. Thus, nanometer precision test placement accuracy can be achieved, which ensures that the test is being conducted at the exact desired location on the material. Additionally, by using the in-situ SPM imaging capabilities on the TS 77, quantitative wear volumes and wear removal rates can be measured as a function of applied contact force, sliding speed, and number of passes, which cannot be performed in a traditional nanoindenter system. Due to the scale of testing, tribological performance of individual microstructures, interfaces, and thin films can readily be measured. Currently, there are no in situ SPM imaging nanoindentation systems available in the Toronto region. We suggest the TS 77 will be of significant value for the research, design, and optimization of engineered materials, within the academic research and industrial communities.