Effect of sample size on deformation in amorphous metals

Uniaxial compression tests were performed on micron-sized columns of amorphous PdSi to investigate the effect of sample size on deformation behavior. Cylindrical columns with diameters between 8 mu m and 140 nm were fabricated from sputtered amorphous Pd(77)Si(23) films on Si substrates by focused ion beam machining and compression tests were performed with a nanoindenter outfitted with a flat diamond punch. The columns exhibited elastic behavior until they yielded by either shear band formation on a plane at 50 degrees to the loading axis or by homogenous deformation. Shear band formation occurred only in columns with diameters larger than 400 nm. The change in deformation mechanism from shear band formation to homogeneous deformation with decreasing column size is attributed to a required critical strained volume for shear band formation. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.