(December 2, 2010) — Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) debuted a nanoindentation technique available on the Agilent Nano Indenter G200 instrumentation platform. The new technique gives researchers the ability to make accurate, fast substrate-independent measurements on thin film materials by means of nanoindentation. It suits evaluating the elastic modulus of hard samples on soft substrates, or of soft samples on hard substrates.

Substrate influence is a common problem when using nanoindentation to evaluate the elastic modulus of thin film materials. The technique is able to extract the film modulus from the measured substrate-affected modulus, assuming that the film thickness and substrate modulus are known. The technique is applicable to a variety of film-substrate systems.

Agilent refers to the G200 as an "accurate, flexible and user-friendly instrument for nanoscale mechanical testing." It uses electromagnetic actuation to achieve unparalleled dynamic range in force and displacement. The G200 enables measurement of Young’s modulus and hardness in compliance with ISO 14577, as well as measurement of deformation over six orders of magnitude – from nanometers to millimeters.

Agilent Technologies offers high-precision, modular nanomeasurement solutions for research, industry and education. Information about Agilent is available at www.agilent.com.

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