Characterization of hydroxyapatite coating by pulse laser deposition technique on stainless steel 316 L by varying laser energy

Highlights: ► Hydroxyapatite coating was successfully deposited on stainless steel substrate by pulse laser deposition at different energy levels (i.e. 300 mJ and 500 mJ, respectively). ► Variation in laser energy affects the surface characteristic of hydroxyapatite coating (particle size, surface roughness, uniformity, Ca/P ratio). ► Laser energy between 300 mJ and 500 mJ is the optimal choice for obtaining ideal Ca/P ratio. - Abstract: Hydroxyapatite is an attractive biomaterial mainly used in bone and tooth implants because it closely resembles human tooth and bone mineral and has proven to be biologically compatible with these tissues. In spite of this advantage of hydroxyapatite it has also certain limitation like inferior mechanical properties which do not make it suitable for long term load bearing applications; hence a lot of research is going on in the development of hydroxyapatite coating over various metallic implants. These metallic implants have good biocompatibility and mechanical properties. The aim of the present work is to deposit hydroxyapatite coating over stainless steel grade 316 L by pulse laser deposition technique by varying laser energy. To know the effect of this variation, the coatings were than characterized in detail by X-ray diffraction, finite emission-scanning electron microscope, atomic force microscope and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy.