Application of numerical optimization algorithms used to investigation of thin films in nanoindentation test

Current developments and trends in microelectronics are focused on thin layers and novel materials. This leads to application of different test and measurement methods, which are capable to measure basic mechanical properties of such materials on micro-scale and nano-scale. This paper focuses on application of the nanoindentation technique. It is one of the most common method for investigating the mechanical material properties (especially thin layers). In order to extract the basic elastic and elasto-plastic mechanical properties the numerical optimization algorithms were used as a support for the tests in combination with the FE-model of the nanoindentation process.