Ion beam nano-patterned surfaces as biomaterials

We prepared wave-like ripple structures in the nanometer scale on silicon and titanium dioxide substrates using low energy sputtering with nobel gas ions. The ions were accelerated up to 20 keV hitting the target with a specific angle about 70 to the surface normal. Different ripple wavelengths and amplitudes could be achieved by varying the acceleration energy and the erosion time, which will lead to new surface characteristics without changing the chemical stoichiometry. Especially a different adsorbent behavior for protein molecules was established, which also depends on the substrate material itself. Motivated by the many possibilities to apply silicon and titanium dioxide in the biomedical field, we investigated their interaction with the biological environment, which is presented in this contribution.