In situ TEM Investigation of the Electroplasticity Phenomenon in Metals

Understanding Nanoscale Plasticity by Quantitative In Situ Conductive Nanoindentation

“…Furthermore, this versatile technique helped in unraveling the influence of substrate, indenter geometry, and pile‐up formation, loading rate, and contact depth on the electromechanical properties of Pt thin films at elastic and plastic nanocontacts under various loads and A c , [ 310 ] understanding the dislocation dynamics (slip events), contact issues during slip in materials such as single‐crystal Au columns, Si, Ni 3 Al, and Vit105 BMG, where it could trace the slipping crystal without losing mechanical contact, [ 313 ] recognizing the localized strain field and lattice change around deformations and the effect of the electric field on plastic deformation in metals such as Al, Ti, and Ni, [ 321 ] explaining the electron scattering due to localized heating in shear bands, [ 322 ] and unravelling the electromechanical behavior of nanoporous metallic glass materials such as Pd‐rich nanoporous metallic glass surface and the momentarily atomic‐scale evolution under stress in BMGs such as Zr 50 Cu 40 Al 10 and Pd 40 Cu 30 Ni 10 P 20 for improving the fatigue performance. [ 323–325 ]…”

“…[196] Further, the in situ conductive nanoindentation measurement technique assisted in calculating the quantum tunneling barrier height that leads to the quantum tunneling/percolation model of conductive nanocomposites such as nickel nanostrands to better understand the electronic properties, [289] aided to realize the electrical contact properties at the metal interfaces, particularly at NiCr/TiW films and Sn/SnO 2 /W structure, [296] detected the delamination process in quasi-static and oscillating dynamic experiments showing the simultaneous pop-in and the sudden drop in current were indicative of the delamination process in Ti x N y film, [306] and effectively characterized the MIM device (with conductive indenter as one contact) (Nb/Nb 2 O 5 /BDD tip) to understand the real-time asymmetry and nonlinearity behavior of the device. [308] Furthermore, this versatile technique helped in unraveling the influence of substrate, indenter geometry, and pile-up formation, loading rate, and contact depth on the electromechanical properties of Pt thin films at elastic and plastic nanocontacts under various loads and A c , [310] understanding the dislocation dynamics (slip events), contact issues during slip in materials such as single-crystal Au columns, Si, Ni 3 Al, and Vit105 BMG, where it could trace the slipping crystal without losing mechanical contact, [313] recognizing the localized strain field and lattice change around deformations and the effect of the electric field on plastic deformation in metals such as Al, Ti, and Ni, [321] explaining the electron scattering due to localized heating in shear bands, [322] and unravelling the electromechanical behavior of nanoporous metallic glass materials such as Pd-rich nanoporous metallic glass surface and the momentarily atomic-scale evolution under stress in BMGs such as Zr 50 Cu 40 Al 10 and Pd 40 Cu 30 Ni 10 P 20 for improving the fatigue performance. [323][324][325] In addition, nano-ECR coupled with the nanoindentation technique provided deep insights into the non-180 o domain wall dynamics in lanthanum-modified lead titanate thin films and threshold stress for depolarization, [358] facilitated the study of the local polarization and stability of polarization in FE thin films such as PZT and Mn-doped PZT for the better design and fabrication of MEMS, [351] utilized the inverse PE effect to quantify the d 33 of Sr-doped PZT and Sc x Al 1Àx N (0001) thin films without the need to go to the popular piezoelectric force microscopy (PFM), [359,365] and aided in confirming high electrical field induced strain of 5% in BFO films, which is higher than the conventional PE materials and comparable to SMAs.…”

“…Reproduced with permission. [321] Copyright 2019, Cambridge University Press. and the formation of fine-scale cracks affect the contact conductance significantly.…”

“…[ 320 ] Though several mechanisms such as localized Joule heating at the lattice defect and vacancy migration due to electron wind effects were proposed, the understanding remains poor. Li et al [ 321 ] attempted to understand the electroplasticity phenomenon in metals using a JEOL 3010 TEM and a Bruker, Inc. Picoindenter equipped with nano‐ECR measurement for controlled in situ electromechanical experiments.…”

“…The TEM images show single dislocation, depinning with the applied current. Reproduced with permission [321]. Copyright 2019, Cambridge University Press.…”