Plastic behavior during loading of ferroelectric bulk materials was commonly explained by domain switching processes. It was shown here that dislocation-induced deformation also occurred during nano-indentation of BaTiO3. Studies were conducted using a spheroconical shaped indenter together with observations using atomic force microscopy and focussed ion beam cross sections for transmission electron microscopy of the contact areas. Force/displacement measurements showed the sudden appearance of “pop-in” events, which AFM/TEM observations revealed were associated with plastic deformation and dislocation arrays at the surface. Transmission electron microscopic cross-sections of the indents showed paired parallel slip lines with 45° to the original surface.

Nanoindentation Initiated Dislocations in Barium Titanate (BaTiO3). T.Scholz, K.K.McLaughlin, F.Giuliani, W.J.Clegg, F.J.Espinoza-Beltrán, M.V.Swain, G.A.Schneider: Applied Physics Letters, 2007, 91[6], 062903