Investigation and Analysis of Thin Diamond Like Carbon Films

Bantle, Annabel Christin

3. term

Biomedical Engineering and Informatics, Master

2018

Glare from conventional surgical instruments under improved operating room lighting and new device labeling requirements motivate the search for dark, low-reflectivity, laser-markable coatings. This project evaluates diamond-like carbon (DLC) thin films for surgical instruments with two main questions: whether DLC can be laser-marked with a coherent linear pattern, and how surface roughness influences and is influenced by DLC coatings. Thin DLC films were deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), characterized by Raman spectroscopy, and assessed by surface roughness measurements; laser ablation was used to test markability. The results show that DLC can be laser-marked with a coherent line pattern. Moreover, the analysis indicates that the surface roughness of DLC coatings does not depend on film thickness, provided that layer defects are limited. Overall, the findings support DLC as a promising low-reflectivity protective coating that can meet optical and identification needs for reusable surgical instruments.

Forstyrrende refleksioner fra traditionelle kirurgiske instrumenter og nye mærkningskrav for medicinsk udstyr motiverer undersøgelse af mørke, lavreflektive og laser-mærkbare belægninger. Dette projekt undersøger diamantlignende kulstof (DLC) som tyndfilm til kirurgiske instrumenter med to hovedspørgsmål: om DLC kan laser-mærkes med et sammenhængende lineært mønster, og hvordan overfladeruhed påvirker, og påvirkes af, DLC-belægninger. Tynde DLC-film blev afsat ved plasmaforstærket kemisk dampdeponering (PECVD), karakteriseret med Raman-spektroskopi, og deres overfladeruhed blev målt; laserablation blev anvendt til at afprøve mærkbarhed. Resultaterne viste, at DLC kan laser-mærkes med et sammenhængende linjemønster. Desuden indikerede evalueringen, at overfladeruheden for DLC-belægninger ikke afhænger af lagtykkelsen, forudsat at lagdefekter kun forekommer i begrænset omfang. Samlet set peger fundene på, at DLC er en lovende beskyttelsesbelægning med lav reflektivitet, der kan opfylde både optiske og identifikationsrelaterede behov for genbrugelige kirurgiske instrumenter.

[This apstract has been generated with the help of AI directly from the project full text]

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Bantle, Annabel Christin:

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