  Information of material deformation upon loading is critical to evaluate
mechanical properties of materials in general, and key to understand
fundamental mechano-stimuli induced response of live systems in particular.
Conventionally, such information is obtained at macroscopic scale about
averaged properties, which misses the important details of deformation at
individual structures; or at nanoscale with localized properties accessed,
which misses the information of deformation at locations away from the
force-loading positions. Here we demonstrate that an integration of nanodiamond
orientation sensing and AFM nanoindentation offers a complementary approach to
the nonlocal reconstruction of material deformation. This approach features a 5
nm precision in the loading direction and a sub-hundred nanometer lateral
resolution. Using this tool, we mapped out the deformation of a PDMS thin film
in air and that of the gelatin microgel particles in water, with precision high
enough to disclose the significance of the surface/interface effects in the
material deformation. The non-local nanometer-precision sensing of deformation
upon a local impact brings in new opportunities in studying mechanical response
of complex material systems.
