PYI:Improved characterization of the mehanical properties of thin films and ion-implanted surfaces will allow optimization of the surface properties produced by these techniques, leading to improved performance of any number of optical, electronic and mechanical devices. The goal to perform numerical simulations of the indentation process and test them with the use of our nanohardness tester, one of the few in the country. The high precision and resolution of the nanohardness testers allows one to measure properties on much smaller scales than a microhardness tester, thus providing the capability of studying thin layers. Large deformation finite element techniques will be used to study several effects associated with the testing of the properies of thin films and implanted layers.
