Pulsed laser deposition of hydroxylapatite thin films on Ti‐6Al‐4V

Abstract

Abstract Pulsed laser deposition was used to deposit thin films of calcium hydroxylapatite (Ca 10 (PO 4 ) 6 (OH) 2 ), or HA, on polished substrates of Ti‐6Al‐4V. Thin films of pure, crystalline HA, uncontaminated by other calcium phosphate phases, were deposited over a range of temperatures between 400 and 800°C. The HA films were polycrystalline with a preferred (001) crystallographic orientation, as determined by transmission electron microscopy and x‐ray diffraction. Adhesion of the HA films to the Ti‐6Al‐4V substrates was excellent when films were deposited at temperatures ≤600°C; in a scratch test, mean pressures of ca. 10 10 Nm −2 produced conformational cracking in a film deposited at 600°C, but no decohesion from the substrates.