Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

In-situ transmission electron microscopy is an established experimental technique that permits direct observation of the dynamics and mechanisms of dislocation motion and deformation behavior. In this paper, we detail the development of a novel specimen goniometer that allows real time observations of the mechanical response of materials to indentation loads. The technology of the scanning tunneling microscope is adopted to allow nanometer scale positioning of a sharp, conductive diamond tip onto the edge of an electron transparent sample. This allows application of loads to nanometer-scale material volumes couple with simultaneous imaging of the material response. The emphasis in this paper is experimental and descriptive, with particular attention given to sample geometry and other technical requirements. Examples of the deformation of aluminum and titanium carbide as well as the fracture of silicon will be presented.