The effects of discharge radio frequency (RF) power and film thickness were studied on the characteristics of Ca5(P04)30 H (hydroxyapatite) thin films fabricated by RF magnetron sputtering. The structure and chemical compo sition were investigated with a-step (thickness), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Ruth erford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), and infrared ab sorption spectrometry (FTIR). The films were analyzed assputtered and after annealing at 550°C under argon flow. SEM showed that the film surfaces had no cracks or other defects. X-ray diffraction showed that the deposited films were amorphous with low-discharge RF power, and crystalline with high-discharge RF power. After annealing, all the films had the same crystalline structure as apatite. However, the RBS measurements revealed that all films had a higher calcium-phosphate ratio than standard syn thetic hydroxyapatite. Furthermore, statistical testing of the RBS data revealed the existence of only a weak correlation between the Ca/P ratio and the discharge power level* Al though all sputtered films showed phosphate bonds in the infrared spectrum, only after annealing did the O H bonds of hydroxyapatite become visible.

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