In situ TEM nanocompression testing

Recent progress in small-scale mechanical testing methods has greatly improved our understanding of size effects in volumes of a few nanometers to a few microns [1–5]. Besides the important results related to the effect of size on the strength of small structures, the ability to systematically measure the mechanical properties of small volumes of material allows us to test samples that cannot easily be processed in bulk form. Recently, we have used a quantitative in situ TEM mechanical testing device to compress microfabricated pillars inside a TEM so that we can make a direct correlation between an imposed stress and an individual deformation event.