In vivo evaluation of tetrahedral amorphous carbon

Tissue reaction to ta-C was mild and was localized to the area of the injection or implantation. Samples with a higher ratio of 3-fold bonding appeared to shed material during the experiments; this was not observed on samples with a higher level of 4-fold bonding, nor on uncoated silicon die. The results strongly suggest that films with greater 4-fold bonding character (more diamond-like) are more resistant to in vivo fragmentation than films with higher 3-fold character (more graphitic).