Microstructural analysis of the deformation range under nano-indentation in β-SiC.

As a powerful tool to analyse microstructural evolution under irradiation and the interaction of moving dislocations with radiation-induced defects, a focused ion beam (FIB) method was applied to ion-irradiated SiC followed by the nano-indentation test. An FIB method has excellent capability to prepare thin foils from the area of interest with a high accuracy of location and wide flexibility in the sampling direction. These advantages are demonstrated in the application to Si ion-irradiated SiC by transmission electron microscope observation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]