Nanoindentation of polycarbonate using carbon nanotube tip

Nanoindentation experiments have been widely used for probing the mechanical and high pressure behavior of small region. One can expect that the spatial resolution of the experiments is improved by using the carbon nanotube tips for an atomic force microscope (AFM), because the nanotubes are well known to have high aspect ratios, small tip radii of curvature and high stiffness. The nanotube tips open out the possibility of mechanical processing in nanometer-scale region on soft material surfaces such as organic polymer or biological samples without degradation of the tips. Recently, we have developed the reliable process for fabrication of the nanotube probe using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). This technique enables us to fabricate an appropriate nanotube tip for the nanoindentation experiments. In this study, we report the nanoindentation properties of the nanotube tips and demonstrate the nanometer processing on the organic polymer surfaces.