Deformation behavior of nanograined platinum films

Anomalously low elastic moduli have been routinely reported in nanoindentation studies, but it was not clear if the behavior was real or an artifact of the measurement technique. Here, we report on similarly low elastic moduli of <111> textured, nanograined platinum films. In this work the presence of anomalous properties was verified by eliminating possible sources of experimental artifacts, namely the films' texture, piling-up of material around the indenter tip, substrate effects, microcracking, and delamination of the film from the substrate. Instead, the peculiar behavior of the nanograined, noble metal film was linked to time-dependent, elastic constitutive behavior (i.e., anelasticity).