Li, HanVlassak, Joost2010-06-242009Li, Han, and Joost J. Vlassak. 2009. Determining the elastic modulus and hardness of an ultrathin film on a substrate using nanoindentation. Journal of Materials Research 24(3): 1114-1126.0884-2914http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:4262334A data analysis procedure has been developed to estimate the contact area in an elasto-plastic indentation of a thin film bonded to a substrate. The procedure can be used to derive the elastic modulus and hardness of the film from the indentation load, displacement, and contact stiffness data at indentation depths that are a significant fraction of the film thickness. The analysis is based on Yu’s elastic solution for the contact of a rigid conical punch on a layered half-space and uses an approach similar to the Oliver-Pharr method for bulk materials. The methodology is demonstrated for both compliant films on stiff substrates and the reverse combination and shows improved accuracy over previous methods.en-USnanoindentationelastic propertiessubstrate effectthin filmsJournal Article2010-06-2410.1557/JMR.2009.0144