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It is very important to know the minimum value of the micro-Vickersindentation load when indents with cracks are obtained. Atomic force microscopeimaging of cracks around indents made on both Si(100) and GaAs(100) byan indenter is described. The indents made with an applied load of 50 mNwere pyramidal depressions of about 3 micrometer x 3 micrometer at thetop and a depth of about 0.4 micrometer. The observed cracks on Si weremeandering curves starting from the area near the corners of the indentsand were steps with the maximum height of nearly 100 nanometer. The cracksare longest when their directions are parallel to <011>, and cracklength decreases directions are the closer to <010>. In contrastto Si, straight cracks as ridges with the height of 10 nanometer to 30nanometer were also observed in GaAs. They were is lotated from the indentand almost parallel to the <010> or <011> orientation of thecrystal.
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