title: In situ nanoindentation study of plastic co-deformation in Al-TiN nanocomposites.
abstract: We performed in situ indentation in a transmission electron microscope on Al-TiN multilayers with individual layer thicknesses of 50 nm, 5 nm and 2.7 nm to explore the effect of length scales on the plastic co-deformability of a metal and a ceramic. At 50 nm, plasticity was confined to the Al layers with easy initiation of cracks in the TiN layers. At 5 nm and below, cracking in TiN was suppressed and post mortem measurements indicated a reduction in layer thickness in both layers. The results demonstrate the profound size effect in enhancing plastic co-deformability in nanoscale metal-ceramic multilayers.
authors.affiliation: Materials Physics and Applications Division, MPA-CINT, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Materials Science and Technology Division, MST-8, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: 1] Materials Physics and Applications Division, MPA-CINT, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA [2] Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Misra
authors.affiliation: Materials Science and Technology Division, MST-8, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang