Nanoindentation as a tool to assess mechanical property changes under ion irradiation

Nanoindentation using sharp, geometrically self-similar indenters has attracted much interest as a tool to assess the mechanical response of ion-irradiated materials. This tool is of value in the framework of both fast materials screening of candidate nuclear materials and more fundamental studies of radiation effects on materials. The ambition is to obtain bulk-equivalent information that can be correlated with macroscopic mechanical properties and is ideally transferable to neutron irradiation. A major challenge arises from the unavoidable interplay of the steep damage gradient in the thin ion-irradiated layer with the indentation size effect (ISE).
The talk will revisit aspects related to the good practise of conducting nanoindentation experiments. The main factors relevant for obtaining reproducible quantitative bulk-equivalent hardness values will be addressed. Finally, approaches aimed at isolating the bulk-equivalent irradiation-induced hardening in (thin and graded) ion-irradiated layers will be reviewed.