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Abstract

Nowadays, in-situ experiments using scanning electron microscopes (SEM) become extremely useful to explore the behavior of the materials at micro/nano scale in real time. This protocol presents a new methodology to perform in-situ nano-tensile tests inside the SEM. The first part of the protocol describes the sample preparation by FIB, starting from the extraction of the sample from the bulk material. Then, a dog-bone shape sample is milled and transferred to the push-to-pull (PTP) device, from the Bruker-Hysitron company, which allows making a nano-tensile test using a nano-indenter. The PTP device is also milled to receive the micro sample, which is finally thinned and finished on the device. In the second part, the PTP device with the sample is transferred to the SEM nano testing holders; the nano-tensile tests are performed following the procedures of the nano-indenters software and are not described here. Finally, in the third part, the protocol describes the different calibrations and corrections that must be applied to the raw data to properly analyze the nano-tensile test and get the true stress-strain curve of the material.