Micro Vickers Hardness Tester  is a common method to measure the hardness of materials, specifically very thin layers, embedded specimens. The test is done by pressing a square-based pyramid diamond indenter on a well prepared sample surface under specific load. The resulting indentation is measured by scaled eyepiece or through a specific analyzing software and converted in the HV scale.

The Vickers method can be divided in two ranges, depending on the applied load: Macro and Micro range.
Vickers hardness numbers are always expressed as xxHVyy, where xx is the hardness number, HV is the hardness scale and yy the applied load.

Standards: ISO 6507, ASTM E384, JIS Z2244