| Abstract: | I report a combined experimental/finite element/molecular dynamics study of the indentation of faceted Au nanoparticles and thin-films of similar dimensions on a sapphire surface. The particles were created via the dewetting of a polycrystalline Au film on sapphire substrate. Experiments show that the larger nanoparticles are softer, i.e. the strength is size dependent. The finite element modeling provide us with information on the ``hot-spots'' for dislocation nucleation. The Molecular Dynamics simulations supply us with insights of the dislocation mechanisms within the nanoparticles during deformation and aide in rationalizing the size effect observed experimentally.
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