Indenter Shape Characterization for the Nanoindentation Measurement of Nanostructured and Other Types of Materials

A review and comparison of different techniques for indenter shape characterization have been carried out. The techniques considered in this study are: a series of indentations in a reference material with known mechanical properties, a direct AFM observation of indenter apex and SPM imaging of calibration gratings supported with laser interferometer. All of the described techniques are analyzed in terms of the factors affecting the indenter shape characterization and the efficiency of obtaining the resulting indenter area function.