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Considering the elastoplastic deformation of a single-crystal copper substrate, based on the atomic scale, a mixed potential function (EAM and Morse) and the Verlet algorithm were used to simulate the adhesion contact and separation process between a hemispherical diamond indenter and a single-crystal copper substrate at low temperatures. The influences of the temperature on the micro/nanomechanical properties of the material surface and on the mechanism of the subsurface deformation process were analysed. The results show that as the simulated temperature decreases, the time for adhesion to occur is delayed, and the adhesion forces increase slightly. While the indenter is being pressed, the temperature affects the generation and interaction of the dislocations in the substrate. As the temperature decreases, a large number of dislocations in the substrate are generated and then relatively reduced, and the load on the indenter fluctuates. A calculation of the mechanical properties of the material found that the contact stiffness was related to the elastic recovery energy. A smaller elastic recovery energy leads to a greater contact stiffness; thus, the indentation hardness is related to the plastic deformation energy. An increased plastic deformation energy results in a decreased indentation hardness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]