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    3645 Gwatt (Thun), Switzerland
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Alemnis Standard Assembly Integration with Swiss Cluster

Many advanced materials require nanomechanical testing under controlled environmental conditions. Integrating the Alemnis Standard Assembly (ASA) into the Swiss Cluster chamber provides a versatile platform for mechanical characterization in tailored gaseous and vacuum environments. This configuration enables correlation of environmental conditions with mechanical response across controlled gas, vacuum, cryogenic, room-temperature, and high-temperature testing conditions, while maintaining a compact, modular, and highly adaptable experimental workflow.

  • Vacuum and controlled gas testing down to  > 5 × 10⁻⁷ mbar
  • HTM/LTM compatible with cooling water and LN₂ connections
  • Customizable integration with feedthroughs, flanges, and gas lines
  • Integrated ASA for stable in situ nanomechanical testing

Application Example

Swiss Cluster platform for in situ nanomechanical testing under controlled vacuum and gas environments.

ATSI: Automated Temperature Sweep Indentations

Combining the Swiss Cluster vacuum chamber with the Alemnis ASA enables automated nanoindentation across a wide temperature range under vacuum or controlled gas environments. This allows direct measurement of hardness, modulus, and deformation behavior as a function of temperature while minimizing oxidation and environmental effects.

Automated temperature sweep indentation

Determining high temperature mechanical properties becomes extremely efficient using Alemnis’ novel Automated Temperature Sweep Indentation method. Continuous (fast) indents were performed automatically during a temperature ramp of 7 °C/minute.

Representative load-displacement curves from Automated Temperature Sweep Indentation experiment on fused silica

Representative load-displacement curves from Automated Temperature Sweep Indentation experiment on fused silica.

High temperature hardness and modulus of pure uranium via Alemnis Temperature Sweep Indentation

High temperature indentation hardness and elastic modulus of pure uranium obtained by Alemnis’ Automated Temperature Sweep Indentation method. 

Correlative Mechanical Mapping

The integrated ASA can perform high-resolution mechanical property mapping inside the Swiss Cluster, allowing local hardness, modulus, and deformation behavior to be correlated with microstructural or imaging data. Controlled vacuum and gas conditions help isolate environmental influences and improve the relevance of structure–property relationships.

Correlative mechanical property map overlaid on the material microstructure, revealing local variations in mechanical response.

Selected References

  1. O. V. Pshyk, A. Vasylenko, P. Kuttel, B. Wicher, P. Schweizer, J. Michler, T. E. J. Edwards, Unlocking ultrastrong high-temperature ceramics: Beyond Equimolar Compositions in High Entropy Nitrides, arXiv preprint arXiv:2310.20441 (2023). https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2310.20441.
  2. M. Jain, A. Sharma, K. Pajor, K. Wieczerzak, N. M. della Ventura, X. Maeder, J. J. Kruzic, B. Gludovatz, J. Michler, Mechanical properties and thermal stability of thin film metallic glass compared to bulk metallic glass from ambient to elevated temperatures, Journal of Alloys and Compounds 960 (2023) 170728. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2023.170728.
  3. R. N. Widmer, A. Groetsch, G. Kermouche, A. Diaz, G. Pillonel, M. Jain, R. Ramachandramoorthy, L. Pethö, J. Schwiedrzik,  J. Michler, Temperature–dependent dynamic plasticity of micro-scale fused silica, Materials & Design 215 (2022) 110503. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2022.110503.
  4. H. Jones, V. Tong, R. Ramachandramoorthy, K. Mingard, J. Michler, M. Gee, Micropillar compression of single crystal tungsten carbide, Part 1: Temperature and orientation dependence of deformation behaviour, International Journal of Refractory Metals and Hard Materials 102 (2022) 105729. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2021.105729.
  5. P. Jenczyk, D. M. Jarzabek, Z. Lu, E. Gadalińska, N. Levintant-Zayonts, Y. Zhang, Unexpected crystallographic structure, phase transformation, and hardening behavior in the AlCoCrFeNiTi0.2 high-entropy alloy after high-dose nitrogen ion implantation, Materials & Design 216 (2022) 110568. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2022.110568.
  6. S. Wang, F. Giuliani, T. B. Britton, Variable temperature micropillar compression to reveal basal slip properties of Zircaloy-4, Scripta Materialia 162 (2019) 451–455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2018.12.014.
  7. T. E. J. Edwards, F. Di Gioacchino, A. J. Goodfellow, G. Mohanty, J. Wehrs, J. Michler, W. J. Clegg, Transverse deformation of a lamellar TiAl alloy at high temperature by in situ microcompression, Acta Materialia 166 (2019) 85–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2018.11.050.
  8. J. P. Best, J. Wehrs, M. Polyakov, M. Morstein, J. Michler, High temperature fracture toughness of ceramic coatings evaluated using micro-pillar splitting, Scripta Materialia 162 (2019) 190–194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2018.11.013.