Determination of mechanical properties of Bi₁₂TiO₂₀ crystals by nanoindentation

Abstract

Bi12TiO20 (BTO) single crystal was grown by Czochralski method and investigated mechanically by nano-indentation measurements. X-ray diffraction pattern of the crystal presented one intensive peak around 37.95 degrees associated with (330) plane of cubic crystalline structure. Nanoindentation experiments were performed at various loads between 5 and 100 mN. Hardness and Young's modulus of the crystal were determined by Oliver-Pharr method. The hardness-load dependency exhibited behavior of indentation size effect. True hardness value of BTO crystal was revealed as 4.4 GPa. Young's modulus decreased with increase of load and load-independent Young's modulus was found around 93 GPa at high loads. The load-dependent elastic and plastic deformation components were calculated and it was observed that the dominant component in BTO single crystal is plastic deformation at the applied loads. The present paper reports for the first time the mechanical characteristics of the BTO single crystal by carrying out nanoindentation experiments.