Effects of focused ion beam milling on the compressive behavior of directionally solidified micro-pillars and the nanoindentation response of an electro-polished surface

Focused ion beam (FIB) milling is the typical way in which micro-pillars are fabricated to study small-scale plasticity and size effects in uniaxial compression. However, FIB milling can introduce defects into the milled pillars. To investigate the effects of FIB damage on mechanical behavior, we tested Mo-alloy micro-pillars that were FIB milled following directional solidification, and compared their compressive response to pillars that were not FIB milled. We also FIB milled at glancing incidence a Mo-alloy single-crystal surface, and compared its nanoindentation response to an electro-polished surface of the same crystal. Consequences for the interpretation of data obtained from FIB milled micro-pillars are discussed.