Spectroscopic ellipsometry investigation of amorphous carbon films with different sp3 content: relation with protein adsorption

The albumin adsorption on non-hydrogenated amorphous carbon films with different diamond-like character (i.e. sp3 content) is addressed. The films were produced by ion beam assisted deposition and by filtered cathodic vacuum arc deposition to obtain a wide range of sp3 contents. A combination of the spectroscopic ellipsometry, Raman spectroscopy and elastic recoil detection analysis was used for characterization of the films. It is shown that an increase of the deposition temperature leads to a decrease of the film band gap, density and a shift of the Raman G-band position. The wettability of the film is not influenced by its sp3 content. Albumin adsorption on the surface depends more on its wetting behavior than on the sp3 content. In addition, Ar ion treatment of the layers can be used to reduce the amount of adsorbed proteins.