Size and orientation effect on the mechanical properties of LiAlO2 single crystal

The mechanical responses of LiAlO2 single crystals on the (001) c-plane and (100) a-plane are examined by using nanoindentation and compression testing, extracting the millimeter-, micrometer-, and nanometer-scaled data. Apparent sample size effects on the yield stress are observed, increasing from 0.5 to 1 GPa in millimeter scale up to 11-14 GPa in nano-scale, as a result of flaw reduction, which can be rationalized by the Weibull statistics. Minor orientation effects are also observed. The c-sample possesses higher values than the a-sample in terms of modulus, Poisson's ratio, hardness and yield stress.