Ion Beam Nanopatterning of Biomaterial Surfaces

Ion beam irradiation of solid surfaces may result in the self-organized formation well-defined topographic nanopatterns. Depending on conditions and material properties, isotropic or anisotropic patterns differently shaped features be obtained. Most intriguingly, periodicities these can adjusted range between less than twenty several hundred nanometers, which covers dimensions many cellular extracellular features. However, even though ion nanopatterning has been studied for decades is nowadays widely employed fabrication functional surfaces, it found its way into biomaterials field only recently. This review provides a brief overview basics nanopatterning, emphasizes aspects particular relevance applications, summarizes number recent studies that investigated effects such nanopatterned adsorption biomolecules response adhering cells. Finally, promising future directions potential translational challenges are identified.