INVESTIGATION OF THE MECHANICAL
TWINNING OF ANTIMONY SINGLE CRYSTALS
BY NANOINDENTATION

O. M. Ostrikova and S. N. Dubb

UDC 548.24

The twinning of antimony single crystals in nanoindentation 
has been investigated. The role of twinning in the formation of the 
impression of the Berkovich pyramid on the surface (111) of antimony 
single crystals has been established. A new method of investigation 
of the mechanical twinning of single crystals has been developed. 
For the first time, the duration of the process of twinning has been 
determined experimentally by a direct technique.

aP. O. Sukhoi Gomel' State Technical University, Gomel', Belarus; 
bInstitute of Superhard Materials, National Academy of Sciences 
of Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine. Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii 
Zhurnal, Vol. 76, No. 1, pp. 170-172, January-February, 2003. 
Original article submitted November 5, 2001; revision submitted April 
3, 2002.