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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 March 2011
Resorbable calcium phosphate (CaP) thin films previously prepared only on quartz substrates were fabricated on Ti-6Al-4V implant grade titanium alloy. In order to maintain the characteristic phase composition and surface morphology of the CaP thin film, an intermediate silica barrier layer was deposited on the titanium alloy via chemical vapour deposition (CVD) using a metal organic precursor. CaP thin films were subsequently deposited on the intermediate SiO2 layer using the dip coating method, and sintered at 1000°C. The final sintered films have a multiphase composition consisting of calcium hydroxyapatite (HA) and a silicon stabilized form of alpha tri-calcium phosphate, or Si-TCP. The thickness of the silica barrier layers were evaluated in terms of the main CVD processing parameters using variable wavelength fixed angle ellipsometry and these parameters were optimized to best reproduce the characteristic CaP thin film. The phase composition and surface morphology of the CaP thin films were characterized using glancing angle X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy.