Mechanical characterization of ruthenocuprates by nanoindentation technique

Abstract

The nanomechanical properties of RuSr 2 RECu 2O8 (RE = Eu, Gd and Ho) prepared by ammonium nitrate melt technique (ANMT) were investigated using nanoindentation technique. The indentation load–displacement curves of the samples were obtained at different peak loads ranging from 10 to 400 mN. Reduced elastic modulus and hardness of the superconductors calculated from loading–unloading curves were peak load dependent, i.e., indentation size effect (ISE). We observed that Ho substitution led to a substantial improvement in mechanical properties of the RuSr2RECu2O8, which was attributed to the strong grain connectivity and dense and less porous structure of RE = Ho sample. © 2014, Springer Science+Business Media New York.