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Abstract: The hard Ti-based coating TiAlN has been produced by plasma immersion ion implantation-assisted deposition (PIIIAD) on austenitic stainless steel. In PIIIAD, the substrate is exposed to cathodic arc plasma comprising of metallic ions corresponding to the cathode composition, and the substrate is biased pulsed negative. The pulsed bias of the substrate renders alternate phases of deposition (during the bias off time) and implantation and deposition (during bias on time), thereby controlling deposition temperature, reduction of compressive stresses, increase of crystallinity and enhancing adhesion of coating to substrate. The deposition has been carried out in a neutral as well as reactive nitrogen environment, which leads to nitrogen-containing coatings. In addition to TiAlN, also, Ti, TiN and TiAl were produced to investigate the effect of the different elements. All the coatings are tested for their suitability as biocompatible coatings, and hence, the adherence of osteoblast progenitor cells to these coatings was investigated in correlation with deposition parameters and surface morphology. The results identify the coatings that are wear resistant and suitable for orthopaedic implants. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Coating with titanium oxides is a promising method to improve the blood compatibility of materials to be used for medical implants. Ti oxide layers were deposited on oxidized Si from a plasma produced by cathodic arc evaporation under addition of oxygen to the ambient near the substrate. In dependence on the deposition parameters amorphous and nanocrystalline structures, crystalline layers composed of anatase and brookite as well as layers dominated by the rutile phase have been obtained. The activation of the plasmatic clotting cascade was only minimally influenced by the crystal size and the crystallite structure of the titanium oxide films. As a trend, amorphous, nanocrystalline and fine-grained layers show higher clotting times than well crystallized rutile films. Ion implantation of Cr or P strongly influences the clotting time. Contrasting tendencies in the dependence of clotting time and platelet adhesion on the microstructure of the Ti oxide have been found, however, for P+-doped rutile both, enhanced clotting time and improved platelet adhesion, are observed. Platelet adherence and activation always show similar trends. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The albumin adsorption on non-hydrogenated amorphous carbon films with different diamond-like character (i.e. sp3 content) is addressed. The films were produced by ion beam assisted deposition and by filtered cathodic vacuum arc deposition to obtain a wide range of sp3 contents. A combination of the spectroscopic ellipsometry, Raman spectroscopy and elastic recoil detection analysis was used for characterization of the films. It is shown that an increase of the deposition temperature leads to a decrease of the film band gap, density and a shift of the Raman G-band position. The wettability of the film is not influenced by its sp3 content. Albumin adsorption on the surface depends more on its wetting behavior than on the sp3 content. In addition, Ar ion treatment of the layers can be used to reduce the amount of adsorbed proteins. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]