Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Nanoindentation Probe

The top image is the image of a diamond nanoindentation probe. The triangular pyramid of the diamond itself is shown. A stainless steel cantilever extends to the top right of the image. The charging region towards the upper right quadrant is an epoxy used to glue the diamond to the cantilever. The bottom image shows the functional portion of the diamond indentation surface. It was inspected in SEM to ascertain whether the structures visible in optical microscopy near the probe tip were fractures or adhered material. It is clearly debris material from a previous scratch or indentation.

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