To accurately assess mechanical properties of micro- and nano-sized specimens, a reliable material testing system is indispensable. However, due to small sizes of these test specimens, in-situ measurement of their mechanical behavior necessitates installing the tester within high-magnification microscopes such as SEM. Traditionally, researchers have used wired methods by placing the tester inside the SEM chamber and connecting it to an external controller via electrical feedthrough. Unfortunately, this approach is cumbersome. In addition, it limits its compatibility with other SEMs. In this study, we developed a compact controller capable of driving 3-axis piezoelectric actuators with nanometer-level displacement control resolution via Bluetooth communication. This innovative setup enables wireless control and data acquisition from outside the closed confines of an SEM chamber. To validate the versatility of our tester, we conducted both a nanoindentation test on a fused silica specimen using a Berkovich indenter in a wired configuration and a copper micropillar compression test wirelessly using a flat punch indenter within an SEM. By installing this tester in various measurement systems, researchers could observe deformation patterns in real time, making it a valuable tool for investigating deformation mechanisms of diverse micro- and nano-sized specimens.

To evaluate the quality of the cross section of Ni alloy thin plate cut by laser, we have proposed an analysis method using SEM image to measure surface roughness of cross section. The surface roughness of the cut area of the thin plate is considerably difficult to analyze using conventional measurement technique such as profile measurement with a probe. When the SEM image is used, the roughness value can be collected quantitatively while judging the surface status qualitatively. A Hastelloy C-276 thin plate with a thickness of 50 μm coated with HTS was cut by Nd:YAG laser, and the state of the cross section was analyzed by applying the proposed method in this research. The optimum laser cutting process condition could be found for the lowest surface roughness.