High-quality hydroxyapatite coating method for implant materials by using two laser beams

摘要

A new hydroxyapatite coating method was developed for titanium by using two excimer laser beams. The method is an improved pulsed laser deposition method. One laser beam (KrF), the ablation laser, is used for ablation of a HAp target. The other (ArF), the assist laser, is used to irradiate a Ti substrate surface during formation of the HAp coating. The assist laser plays an important role in the formation of a crystalline HAp coating and improves the strength of adhesion to the Ti substrate. The coating quality varied with the timing of the assist laser irradiation. A coating deposited with a long assist laser delay contained a large amorphous component. High-quality coatings were obtained with delay times under 10 μs. Using the present method, we succeeded in fabricating thin (≤ 1 μm) HAp coatings with high crystallinity and prepared an implant for animal studies.