An interaction potential and an input file including information of atom ID, coordinates, charges, ensemble, time step, etc are fed to the simulator, and then running could be executed. After specified running timesteps, information such as energy, atomic trajectories, and structural information (such as coordination number) could be output for further analysis, which makes it possible to investigate the nanoindentation mechanism at atomic-scale. Another interesting Matlab toolbox called STABiX has been developed to quantify slip transmission at grain boundaries by analyzing indentation experiments in bicrystal. Nanoindentation is a robust technique for determination of mechanical properties. By combining the application of low loads, measuring the resulting displacement, and determining the contact area between the tip of the indenter and the sample a wide range of mechanical properties are able to be measured. The application that drove the innovation of the technique is testing thin film properties for which conventional testing are not feasible. Conventional mechanical testing such as tensile testing or dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) can only return the average property without any indication of variability across the sample. However, nanoindentation can be used for determination of local properties of homogeneous as well as heterogeneous materials. The reduction in sample size requirements has allowed the technique to become broadly applied to products where the manufactured state does not present enough material for microhardness testing. Applications in this area include medical implants, consumer goods, and packaging. Alternative uses of the technique are used to test MEMs devices by utilizing the low-loads and small scale displacements the nanoindenter is capable of. Conventional nanoindentation methods for calculation of Modulus of elasticity (based on the unloading curve) are limited to linear, isotropic materials. Problems associated with the "pile-up" or "sink-in" of the material on the edges of the indent during the indentation process remain a problem that is still under investigation. It is possible to measure the pile-up contact area using computerized image analysis of atomic force microscope (AFM) images of the indentations. This process also depends on the linear isotropic elastic recovery for the indent reconstruction. Nanoindentation of soft material has intrinsic challenges due to adhesion, surface detection and tip dependency of results. There is an ongoing research to overcome such problems. Two critical issues need to be considered when attempting nanoindentation measurements on soft materials: stiffness and viscoelasticity. The first is the requirement that in any force-displacement measurement platform the stiffness of the machine (formula_63) must approximately match the stiffness of the sample (formula_64), at least in order of magnitude.