Laser-assisted laser ablation method for high-quality hydroxyapatite coating onto titanium substrate

Hydroxyapatite (HAp) coating on titanium (Ti) or Ti alloy implant materials is one of the important technologies for improving the bioactivity of their surface. We recently developed a new HAp coating method using two laser beams, laser-assisted laser ablation method (LALA method). In this method, two excimer lasers were used. One laser beam from KrF laser, the ablation laser, is used for ablation of a HAp target. The other beam from ArF laser, 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 time between 2 and 10 μs.Using the present method, we succeeded in fabricating thin (≤1 μm) HAp coatings with high crystallinity and high adhesion strength.