Critical review of analysis and interpretation of nanoindentation test data

This paper reviews commonly used methods of analysing and interpreting nanoindentation test data, with a particular emphasis on the testing of thin films. The popularity of nanoindentation testing is evidenced by the large number of papers that report such measurements in recent years. Unfortunately, there appear to be several issues that are emerging as common sources of error in using this technique. The present paper is aimed at highlighting these errors for the benefit of those practitioners who wish to use the technique but are not fully conversant with the field.