Advancements in Development of an Ultra-precision, Si- Traceable Nanoindentation Platform

This paper presents a discussion of the design features of a precision indentation platform for measuring indents with traceable uncertainties at the nanometer scale. In particular, the goal of the instrument is to simultaneously measure penetration distance of an indenter tip into a surface as a function of the applied load. Components of design that will be discussed include; capacitance gauges for measurement of indenter penetration and load, AC bridge balancing for high sensitivity, a proximity probe for surface location sensing, a null control to create a constant force measurement datum from the specimen surface, alignment of the proximity probe relative to the indenter tip and preliminary results from proximity probe sensitivity testing.