Behavior of monocrystalline silicon under cyclic microindentations with a spherical indenter

This study discusses the behavior of high-pressure phases of monocrystalline silicon when subjected to cyclic indentations with a spherical indenter. It was found that specific phases form in the second and subsequent indentation cycles under low maximum loads. An increase of the maximum indentation load causes changes of subsequent indentation cycles of the phase transformation events to occur earlier on both loading and unloading. The repeated indentations result in the formation of a multiphase structure in the deformed zone, featuring a nonhysteresis behavior. After a critical stage, the properties of the transformed material are stabilized and further indentations can no longer alter the load–displacement curve. It was also found that the greater the maximum load, the faster the occurence of property stabilization.