Molecular dynamics investigation of the effects of tip-substrate interactions during nanoindentation

Published

June 18, 2015

Author(s)

Francesca M. Tavazza, Thomas Senftle, Chenyu Zou, Chandler A. Becker, Adri van Duin

Abstract

Nanoindentation in molecular dynamics simulations typically uses a much idealized indenter tip. This tip is often either a single sphere or collection of atoms, both of which are purely repulsive in their interactions with the substrate. It is also assumed that there is no environmental or substrate contamination, nor is there a surface oxide layer. In this work we examine the effects of these assumptions and compare against both experimental atomic force microscopy observations and calculations using density functional theory. Specifically, we examine the effect of a tip-substrate interaction on the indenter under clean, hydrogenated and oxidized conditions. We find that under clean or oxidized conditions (where we include oxygen on the nickel surface to mimic a passivating NiO layer) there is a substantial material transfer from the substrate to the tip. This material (Ni atoms) remains adsorbed on the tip upon retraction. However, the presence of hydrogen on the diamond tip drastically reduces, or even altogether eliminates, this material transfer, therefore having a much larger effect than the oxygen.

Citation

Journal of Physical Chemistry C

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

nanoindentation, molecular dynamics, potentials, force fields, nickel

Citation

Tavazza, F. , Senftle, T. , Zou, C. , Becker, C. and van, A. (2015), Molecular dynamics investigation of the effects of tip-substrate interactions during nanoindentation, Journal of Physical Chemistry C (Accessed October 20, 2025)