Key Engineering Materials Vols. 389-390

Abstract: This paper investigates the scale effect of indenter tip radius on the deformation of silicon under nanoindentation using molecular dynamics simulation. It was found that with larger diamond tips a six-coordinated silicon phase different from β-silicon on loading and a diamond like crystal beneath the indenter on unloading would appear as a result of the indentation stressing. This is a new phenomenon that has not been observed previously.