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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 February 2011
We have performed nanoindentations using the tip of an AFM cantilever. Experiments have been made on a freshly etched hydrogen terminated Silicon (111) surface, yielding penetrations of less than 1 nm so that the onset of the plastic region(or yield threshold) determination have been carefully investigated. Furthermore, other nanomechanical properties such as hardness have been also investigated. The energy involved in such indentation processes where a nanometric deformation of the surface takes place, has been for the first time calculated by calibration against a non deformable surface, and a correlation with the atomic structure of the indented single crystal is inferred.