Details of the elastic–plastic transitions in crystalline compound semiconductors have been examined using spherical indentation. Two cubic (InP and GaAs) and two hexagonally structured semiconductors (ZnO and GaN) have been studied. A series of indentations have been made in each material at a number of different loads. The resulting load–penetration curves exhibited one or more discontinuities on loading (so called pop-in events). The load at which the initial pop-in event occurred has been measured along with the corresponding indenter extension. The elastic and elastic–plastic response of each material to spherical indentation has been calculated and compared with the experiment. By taking the difference between the elastic and elastic–plastic penetration depths, it has been found that the pop-in extension at each load could be predicted for each material. The detailed deformation behavior of each of the materials during indentation has also been discussed.

This article appeared in the August 2004 issue of Journal of Materials Research. The following corrections are required.

Section II. Experiments p. 2488

The third paragraph in the Experiments section should appear as follows:

One mechanism to explore changes in the shape of an indentation load-displacement response is to normalize the trace by its peak point. It has been demonstrated that the normalized [h/h(PMAX), P/PMAX] experimental responses for bulk polymers indented at constant loading- and unloading rate with the same rise time (but at different peak load levels) are identical. Figure 1(a) shows raw load-displacement data for indentation tests performed at small peak loads in the thickest polymer film (Epon) in the current study. The peak loads, 1 and 2 mN, were chosen to correspond to depths less than 10% of the film thickness in both cases. The responses normalize to the same shape [Fig. 1(b)]. When the 1-mN normalized response is compared with those from much greater load levels (50 and 500 mN), there are clear changes in the shape of the response, both loading and unloading [Fig. 1(c)]. In particular, the loading response shifts from slightly less than quadratic (power law fit with exponent 1.8) for the 1-mN response, as would be expected for a quadratic material with some creep effect; to a response between quadratic and cubic (power law fit with exponent 2.6) for the 500-mN response. The unloading response is also altered in shape, with a steeper unloading tangent at the larger load.

An atomic force microscope was used to measure the loss tangent, tan δ, of a pressure-sensitive adhesive transfer tape as a function of frequency (0.01 to 10 Hz). For the measurement, the sample was oscillated normal to the surface and the response of the cantilever resting on the polymer surface (as measured via the photodiode) was monitored. Both oscillation amplitude and phase were recorded as a function of frequency. The atomic force microscopy measurement gave the same frequency dependence of tan δ as that measured by a dynamic shear rheometer on a film 20 times thicker. The results demonstrate that the atomic force microscope technique can quantitatively measure rheological properties of soft thin polymeric films.

In the two papers listed above, the conversion of the Seebeck coefficient (relative to copper) to the absolute thermoelectric power was done by using the wrong sign of the absolute thermoelectric power of copper (2.34 μV/°C). The corrected tables are shown below for both papers. The correction means that plain cement paste is slightly p-type rather than slightly n-type. In addition, it means that cement pastes with carbon fibers are more p-type and those with steel fibers are less n-type than reported. Note in Table III of Paper 2 that all cement pastes are p-type except for paste (ii). Note in Table IV of Paper 2 that all cement junctions are pn-junctions (rather than some being nn+-junctions).