Plasma assisted pulsed laser deposition of hydroxylapatite thin films

Thin films of hydroxylapatite (HA) were deposited on Si substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD), combined with radio frequency (RF) plasma, in different gas atmospheres. Physicochemical properties of HA films were studied using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The structure of these coatings was determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD). It has been observed that the gas atmosphere has an important role on the material properties. The FTIR spectra analysis revealed that the incorporation of a water vapour atmosphere during the PLD process is necessary to obtain crystalline coatings. The incorporation of the RF plasma in the PLD process causes a significant increase of the film growth rate, and a slight improvement of the crystallinity of the films.