GaN nanoindentation: A micro-Raman spectroscopy study of local strain fields

We have investigated strain fields around GaN nanoindentations. Stress relaxation around the edges of the nanoindentation was evident in atomic force microscopy images. More detailed information on the strain fields was obtained from Raman scattering, which has been used to analyze the shape of the strain field around the indentation. We find that the Berkovich tip giving a triangular imprint on the sample generates a strain field, which represents a hexagonal pattern. Negative values of the strain indicate that the residual stress is compressive. Strain is larger in the center of the indentation than outside. Analysis of the ratio of the frequency shift of the E-2 and A(1)(LO) modes suggests that the residual strains are close to biaxial state outside the indentation contact zone, and mostly hydrostatic within the indentation center. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.