Hydroxyapatite thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition and radio-frequency magnetron sputtering: comparative study

Abstract

Hydroxyapatite (HA) thin films for applications in the biomedical field were grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and radio-frequency magnetron sputtering (RF-MS) techniques. The depositions were performed from pure hydroxyapatite targets on Ti–5Al–2.5Fe (TiAlFe) alloys substrates. In order to prevent the HA film penetration by Ti atoms or ions diffused from the Ti-based alloy during and after deposition, the substrates were pre-coated with a thin buffer layer of TiN. In both cases, TiN was introduced by reactive PLD from TiN targets in low-pressure N 2. The PLD films were grown in vacuum onto room temperature substrates. The RF-MS films were deposited in low-pressure argon on substrates heated at 550 °C. The initially amorphous PLD thin films were annealed at 550 °C for 1 h in ambient air in order to restore the initial crystalline structure of HA target. The thickness of the PLD and RF-MS films were ∼1 μm and ∼350 nm, respectively. All films were structurally studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) and white light confocal microscopy (WLCM). The mechanical properties of the films were tested by Berkovich nano-indentation. Both PLD and RF-MS films mostly contain HA phase and exhibit good mechanical characteristics. Peaks of CaO were noticed as secondary phase in the GIXRD patterns only for RF-MS films. By its turn, the sputtered films were smoother as compared to the ones deposited by PLD (50 nm versus 250 nm average roughness). The RF-MS films were harder, more mechanically resistant and have a higher Young modulus.