Comparative properties of titanium oxide biomaterials grown by pulsed vacuum arc plasma deposition and by unbalanced magnetron sputtering(UBM)

Summary form only given, as follows. Titanium and its alloys are widely used as metallic biomaterials due to their good biocompatibility with tissue, bone, and blood. The reason for the good biocompatibility behavior is a 5/spl sim/6 nm thin oxide layer (TiO/sub 2/) which forms under atmospheric conditions. The oxide layer forms the interface between the biological system and the implant material. Nevertheless the oxide layer (TiO/sub 2/) is very thin and the use of these titanium-based materials in implants may sometimes cause problem because of their poor surface hardness and wear resistance as well as their high metal ion release rate. Hence it is necessary to synthesize a thicker and denser titanium oxide film on titanium or titanium alloy. The objective of the work described here was to characterize titanium oxide films synthesized by unbalanced magnetron sputtering and metal vacuum arc deposition, as well as to test the microstructure, composition, mechanical properties, semiconducting properties and blood compatibility. The film composition was determined by XPS and RBS. Surface morphology was studied by AFM and SEM, and microstructure was studied by XRD and Raman spectra. The hardness and adhesion strength between substrate and films were assessed using CSEM nano-hardness and nano-scratch testers. Blood compatibility was evaluated in vitro by platelet adhesion measurement. The microstructure and properties (mechanical, physical properties and blood compatibility) of titanium oxide synthesized by pulsed vacuum arc plasma deposition and by unbalanced magnetron sputtering are discussed. The results show that physical properties such as surface energy and semiconductivity are found to play important roles in blood compatibility.