Antibacterial Properties of TiAgN and ZrAgN Thin Film Coated by Physical Vapor Deposition for Medical Applications

Titanium(Ti) and zirconium(Zr) have been widely researched in the field of biomedical materials, due to their excellent mechanical properties and biocompatibility. They belong to group IVa in the periodic table, and are known to have similar chemical properties, and no toxic effects. However, they do not possess antibacterial properties. Inflammation and infection, which are usually caused by adherence and colonization of bacteria on biomaterials, cause serious complications in patients [1,2]. Thus in order to enhance the antibacterial capability on the surface of biomedical devices, an effective approach to antibacterial agents was performed by means of surface coating techniques, to increase their antibacterial and mechanical properties [3-5]. Silver (Ag) and copper (Cu) are known to be effective antibacterial agents, due to their specific antibacterial activity [6]. It was reported that Ag-doped TaN and Cu-doped TaN with nanoparticles can decrease the multiplication of Escherichia coli bacteria, Byeong-Mo Kang and Yeong-Seog Lim Department of Electronics and Computer Engineering, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 500-757, Korea