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An atomic force microscopy (AFM) based technique is proposed for the characterization of both indentation modulus and hardness of compliant materials. A standard AFM tip is used as an indenter to record force versus indentation curves analogous to those obtained in standard indentation tests. In order to overcome the lack of information about the apex geometry, the proposed technique requires calibration using a set of reference samples whose mechanical properties have been previously characterized by means of an independent technique, such as standard indentation. Due to the selected reference samples, the technique has been demonstrated to allow reliable measurements of indentation modulus and hardness in the range of 0.3-4.0 GPa and 15-250 MPa, respectively.

Solid fullerenes C60 and C70 have been treated at high pressure of 15 GPa and high temperatures of 520 - 1820 K for a time of exposure of 60 s and a quenching rate of 300 K s−1 using a toroid-type apparatus. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectra confirm the realization of 3D-polymerized phases in these solids at 15 GPa. The pressure/temperature maps of synthesis of metastable carbon phases on the basis of C60 and C70 have thus been extended to 15 GPa. The longitudinal and shear sound wave velocities were measured by acoustic microscopy techniques. A maximum sound wave velocity of (21±1)×105 m s−1 was observed in the sample synthesized from C60 at T = 1170 K. The elastic constants were calculated using experimental data. The acoustic microscopy images of experimental samples have been investigated.

The objective of this study was to characterize the three-dimensional (3D) surface micromorphology of the ceramics produced from nanoparticles of alumina and tetragonal zirconia (t-ZrO2) with addition of Ca(+2) for sintering improvement. The 3D surface roughness of samples was studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM), fractal analysis of the 3D AFM-images, and statistical analysis of surface roughness parameters. Cube counting method, based on the linear interpolation type, applied for AFM data was used for fractal analysis. The morphology of non-modified ceramic sample was characterized by the rather big (1-2 μm) grains of α-Al2O3 phase with a habit close to hexagonal drowned in solid solution of t-ZrO2 with smooth surface. The pattern surfaces of modified composite content a little amount of elongated prismatic grains with composition close to the phase of СаСеAl3О7 as well as hexahedral α-Al2O3-grains. Fractal dimension, D, as well as height values distribution have been determined for the surfaces of the samples with and without modifying. It can be concluded that the smoothest surface is of the modified samples with Ca(+2) modifier but the most regular one is of the non-modified samples. A connection was observed between the surface morphology and the physical properties as assessed in previous works.

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