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Hardness measurement of brittle materials

I'm a graduate student in Materials Science and I am interested in measuring the hardness of SiC. More specifically, I'd like to do the test on SiC wafers of about half mm thickness.

I tried using an indentor but the only result was to cleave the wafer.

Is there any other way to measure the hardness on brittle materials?

I would appreciate any help on this issue. Many thanks in advance.

Mihaela Balseanu
Cornell University - Ithaca, New York
2000

Assuming that you have a very smooth surface finish, you need a microindenter or nanoindenter instrument with a microscope set up to measure hardness of such a material. Such a hardness measurement service is provided by many labs. Check with KTA-TATOR in Chicago, e.g.

Mandar Sunthankar
- Fort Collins, Colorado
2000

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