Structural analysis of calcium phosphate coatings produced by pulsed laser deposition at different water-vapour pressures.

Calcium phosphate coatings have been produced by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) at different water-vapour pressures. Rietveld refinement of X-ray diffraction (XRD) data allows us to determine that the structure of these coatings is apatitic with carbonate substitution for phosphate. The carbonate substitution decreases when the chamber pressure is raised, a fact that has been corroborated by Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Carbonate concentrations between 5 and 17 wt% have been calculated for the crystalline samples. Amorphous coatings are produced at the lowest and highest pressures due to the high carbonate concentration in the first case, and possibly to another type of substitution (Mg(2+), HPO(2-)4, P2O(4-)7) or the inherent kinetics of the PLD process, in the second case.