X-ray analyses of thermally grown and reactively sputtered tantalum oxide films on NiTi alloy

Karrina McNamara, Syed A.M. Tofail, Derek Conroy, James Butler, Abbasi A. Gandhi, Wynette Redington

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Sputter deposition of tantalum (Ta) on the surface of NiTi alloy is expected to improve the alloy's corrosion resistance and biocompatibility. Tantalum is a well-known biomaterial which is not affected by body fluids and is not irritating to human tissue. Here we compare the oxidation chemistry crystal structure evolution of tantalum oxide films grown on NiTi by reactive O 2 sputtering and by thermal oxidation of sputter deposited Ta films. The effect of sputtering parameters and post-sputtering treatments on the morphology, oxidation state and crystal structure of the tantalum oxide layer have been investigated by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The study has found that it may be better to avoid oxidation at and above 600°C. The study establishes that reactive sputtering in presence of low oxygen mixture yields thicker film with better control of the film quality except that the surface oxidation state of Ta is slightly lower.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)49-52
Number of pages4
JournalNuclear Inst. and Methods in Physics Research, B
Volume284
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2012

Keywords

  • NiTi
  • Oxidation of metals
  • Reactive sputtering
  • Ta-coating
  • X-ray diffraction
  • X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

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