Abstract
The conducting atomic force microscopy (CAFM) technique was utilized for imaging the phase transitions in Si nanoindentation. High current sites were observed and corresponded directly to Si-III and/or Si-XII. The smallest size observed which was around 20 nm, showed that the phase transformation occurs on a nanometer scale. The energy barrier between Si-III and SiO 2 were also estimated by fitting the results with the Fowler-Nordheim equation. The results show that the high current sites are always present in indentations showing the discontinuity effect.