Abstract Scope |
When Warren Oliver and I were doing our initial work on the development of nanoindentation testing in the late 1980's, it was quite clear what the initial applications would be. That was a time when thin film technology was rapidly developing for semiconductors, optics, and hard coatings, with each having pressing needs for small-scale mechanical characterization. However, what was not apparent was a plethora of unforeseen applications spanning a wide range of scientific, engineering, and non-technical fields. In this presentation, we discuss some of those, with an emphasis on the applications that have proven technically important as well as some that are truly unusual. The examples are drawn from fields as disparate and wide-ranging as biology, geology, space science, archaeology, anthropology, food science, fine art, medicine, cosmetics and personal care products. |