Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Nanoindentation of Silicon Nitride

This is a report of work in progress on 10 million atom Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations of nanoindentation of crystalline and amorphous silicon nitride (Si₃N₄). Nanoindentation is used to determine mechanical properties of extremely thin films such as hardness and elastic moduli. We report load-displacement curves for several Si₃N₄ configurations using an idealized non-deformable indenter and analyze the local stress distributions in the vicinity of the indenter tip. Preliminary results for surface adhesion using Si₃N₄ for both tip and substrate are also reported.