| Abstract Scope |
Plastic deformation and fracture of ceramic materials typically initiate from a stress concentration region at a surface crack. Therefore, it is important to characterize the microscopic behavior of a surface crack under loading conditions. In situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) mechanical experiments are known to be a powerful technique to visualize local structural changes upon loading. In recent years, microelectron mechanical system (MEMS) technology provides small and precise loading devices. In this study, we performed in situ loading experiments on ceramic materials with a MEMS loading device in an atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscope. Our experiments provided sequential atomic-resolution images. The local strain of the sample was examined based on atomic positions, and the results clearly show increasing of local strain with increasing load and following deformation/fracture behavior. In the presentation, we will discuss its strain distributions and structural changes in detail. |