Improved adhesion of ultra-hard carbon films on cobalt-chromium orthopaedic implant alloy.

While interfacial graphite formation and subsequent poor film adhesion is commonly reported for chemical vapor deposited hard carbon films on cobalt-based materials, we find the presence of O(2) in the feedgas mixture to be useful in achieving adhesion on a CoCrMo alloy. Nucleation studies of surface structure before formation of fully coalesced hard carbon films reveal that O(2) feedgas helps mask the catalytic effect of cobalt with carbon through early formation of chromium oxides and carbides. The chromium oxides, in particular, act as a diffusion barrier to cobalt, minimizing its migration to the surface where it would otherwise interact deleteriously with carbon to form graphite. When O(2) is not used, graphitic soot forms and films delaminate readily upon cooling to room temperature. Continuous 1 μm-thick nanostructured carbon films grown with O(2) remain adhered with measured hardness of 60 GPa and show stable, non-catastrophic circumferential micro-cracks near the edges of indent craters made using Rockwell indentation.