Fig. 5: Mechanical characterization of the fully consolidated region via nanoindentation and Vickers hardness Tests.

a Hardness-load plot of the fully consolidated sample obtained by nanoindentation and Vickers hardness test, b BSE image showing the sufficient gaps between each consecutive indent to avoid the strain hardening effect near the indents, (c) cracks near the indents at 200 mN load, (d) hardness and (e) Young’s modulus mapping of fully consolidated region obtained by nanoindentation hardness test performed at 200 mN load. Note that in Fig. 5a, an average of 5 individual datapoints at each load was considered to ensure statistical reliability. The error bars represent the range between the maximum and minimum hardness values at each load, while the solid squares denote the corresponding average hardness values.