title: An experimental UHV AFM-STM device for characterizing surface nanostructures under stress/strain at variable temperature.
abstract: A compression setup fully integrated in an ultra high vacuum chamber is presented. The system has been designed to combine in situ mechanical test together with near field microscopy at variable temperature, from 90 to 600 K. Compressive stress can be applied on the samples up to 500 MPa at different strain rates ranging from 10(-6) s(-1) to 10(-2) s(-1). The setup performances are highlighted through investigations on Au and Ni3(Al,Ta) single crystals. In particular, it is demonstrated that the high mechanical stability of the original apparatus allows us to follow in situ the evolution of the same area of interest over a large range of temperature and to keep the high spatial resolution offered by near field microscopy, even at high strain levels.
authors.affiliation: Institut Pprime, Département Physique et Mécanique des Matériaux, UPR 3346, CNRS-Université de Poitiers-ENSMA, 86962 Futuroscope-Chasseneuil, France.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nahas
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Berneau
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bonneville
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Coupeau
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Drouet
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lamongie
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marteau
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Michel
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tanguy
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tromas