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With the improvement of depth-sensing instruments nanoindentation has become a standard tool for the study and design of thin film systems, nanocomposites and other nanostructured materials and devices. Mechanical properties, such as elastic modulus and hardness can be measured at scales in the depth range of tens of nanometers. The correct determination of the mechanical properties depends on the proper evaluation of the real contact area. While two standard methods are commonly used, indentations on a reference sample and measurement by atomic force microscopy (AFM), there are many caveats and the issue remains tricky, especially for large depths. In this contribution we present an example where the standard calibration of the tip area function via a reference sample cannot be used for the desired tip and the AFM method must be used instead.

We present a simple and portable setup for basic characterization of force sensors in nanoindentation instruments. The device can provide traceability to mass standards in the milli-and centinewton range. We present its use with a real nanoindentation instrument. Motivated by the result, we conduct a small computational study to demonstrate the effect of sensor measurement error on material properties quantified from nanoindentation measurements.