New Enhanced Dynamic Contact Module (DCM II) Option

Data Sheet

Overview

The Keysight Technologies, Inc. Dynamic Contact Module II (DCM II) option offers all of the impressive performance afforded by Keysight’s original DCM option as well as several new advantages, including 3x higher loading capability (30 mN max load), easy tip exchange for quick removal and installation of application-specific tips, and a full 70μm range of indenter travel.

The DCM II extends the range of load-displacement experimentation down to the surface contact level. With this option, Keysight Nano Indenter users can study not only the irst few nanometers of an indentation into the surface of a material, but even the pre-contact mechanics.

Features and Benefits

- Fully dynamic indentation head for ultra-low-load (30 mN max load) mechanical properties characterization

- Easy tip exchange allows quick removal/installation of application-specific tips

- Full 70 μm range of indenter travel

- Powerful option enables researchers to study the irst few nanometers of an indentation into the surface of a material as well as the pre-contact mechanics

- Lowest noise floor of any instrument of its type ensures best indenter resolution available

- Seamless compatibility with Keysight Nano Indenters

Applications

- Semiconductor, thin films, MEMs (wafer applications)

- Hard coatings, DLC films

- Composite materials, fibers, polymers

- Metals, ceramics

-  Biomaterials, biology

Physical Properties

To be precise and widely applicable, nanoindentation testing must be dynamic. Static and quasi-static approaches limit both the types of samples that can be tested and the mechanical properties that can be determined.

The DCM II option is a fully dynamic indentation head for ultra-low-load (30 mN max load) mechanical properties characterization. When applying the Keysight Continuous Stiffness Measurement (CSM) technique, the DCM II delivers the full benefits of dynamic nanoindentation testing.

Displacement Resolution

At this scale, the noise level of the indentation system also must be optimized to enhance its actual displacement measurement capability. Using standard methods, the displacement resolution of the DCM II is determined to be 0.000 2nm (0.2 picometers).

Even more importantly, real-world testing shows that the noise levels are typically less than an angstrom, ensuring the best resolution of any indenter on the market today. The DCM II has the lowest noise floor of any instrument of its type.

Indenter Column Mass

With an indenter column weighing in at less than 150 milligrams, the system is sensitive to surface forces and dynamics, since it carries very little inertia of its own. The combination of low mass and high resonant frequency has a direct beneficial effect on performance.

-the DCM II is very sensitive to the surface of the sample under test. As a result, surface contact determination, one of the most important factors in ultra-low-load indentation testing, is extremely accurate and reproducible.

Easy Tip Exchange

Easy tip exchange allows users to remove/install application-specific tips quickly. Furthermore, the DCM II head does not have to be removed when using a heating stage with the standard Keysight XP head.

Flexibility

The DCM II is an indentation head that can be flexibly configured as an addition to new or existing Keysight Nano Indenters. The DCM II head’s flexible mounting bracket provides multiple mounting options so that the DCM II can be configured to specific applications.

Nano Indenters

The culmination of decades of research and development, Keysight Nano Indenters are the world’s most accurate, lexible, and user-friendly instruments for nanoscale mechanical testing. Electromagnetic actuation allows Nano Indenters to achieve unparalleled dynamic range in force and displacement.

These advanced instruments not only enable users to measure Young’s modulus and hardness in compliance with the ISO 14577 standard but also enable measurement of deformation over six orders of magnitude (from nanometers to millimeters).

Keysight Nano Indenters are capable of characterizing even the most compliant materials. Nano Indenters are carefully designed to account for the dynamics of indentation testing. Each system is individually calibrated and characterized over its full dynamic range of operation to ensure maximum accuracy and reliability.

Every Nano Indenter is backed by highly responsive Keysight Technologies customer service personnel. Knowledgeable and experienced regional applications engineers are available to guide users through more advanced testing, provide outstanding technical support, and offer unmatched applications expertise.