Growth and surface characterization of FeAlCr thin films deposited by magnetron sputtering for biomedical applications

• Thin films of FeAlCr are deposited on stainless steel by DC magnetron sputtering.
• A nanocrystalline structure of AlFe phase is obtained at all processing conditions.
• AlFe grain size increases with sputtering power.
• Film adhesion increases with substrate temperature.
• The best film adhesion is obtained at 100 W and substrate heated at 300 °C.

The limitations of stainless steel as prosthesis material should be overcome in order to better satisfy the required specifications in bone replacements. One strategy to improve the corrosion and wear resistance and diminish the ion release is the surface modification of the implants by protective coatings. In this work, thin films of FeAlCr alloy were grown on ASTM F138 stainless steel by using DC magnetron sputtering technique. The films were produced by varying the sputtering power (from 50 to 200 W) and the substrate temperature (room temperature, 150 °C and 300 °C). The films obtained in all processing conditions were crystalline and presented the same chemical composition of the target material. It was found that the deposition rate of the films and their adhesion to the substrate increased with both the sputtering power and the substrate temperature. The best result was obtained for depositions carried out at 100 W and substrate heated at 300 °C.