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. ctd on the link |