Experimental data on the kinetics of indenter penetration into a crystal surface, the contact stresses under the indenter, and the electric polarization of the deformation zone, were analyzed with a temporal resolution of 1ms. It was established that the process of indenter penetration consisted of several stages, and the activation parameters at each stage were determined. The low values of the activation volumes (some tenths of an ionic volume) and the high contact stresses (up to one third of the Young’s modulus) indicated a predominance of interstitial mass transport in the first 10ms or so of indenter penetration; within which up to 80% of the impression was formed. In the later stages, the activation energy and the volume became close to the values which were characteristic of dislocation flow mechanisms (some tenths of an electron-volt and about 10b3, respectively).

J.I.Golovin, A.I.Tyurin: Kristallografiya, 1995, 40[5], 884-8 (Crystallography Reports, 1995, 40[5], 818-22)