Chromium/chromium nitride multilayers during thermal treatment: An X-ray diffraction study

Chromium/chromium nitride multilayer coatings consisting of a stack of alternating 82 nm thick chromium and 168 nm thick CrNx sublayers with a total thickness of 4 μm were deposited on silicon wafers by magnetron sputtering below 70 °C. X-ray diffraction revealed for the as-deposited state a significant fraction of material in amorphous state. The effect of subsequent heat treatment on the formation of the crystalline phases Cr and Cr2N, on the coherent diffracting length of the occurring crystallites, as well as the correlated variations of the lattice cell parameters was studied by in-situ high temperature X-ray diffraction techniques. Ex-situ observations of the crystallographic texture showed the presence of a fibre texture parallel to the [1 0 0] direction for the Cr-phase and a fibre texture parallel to the [1 1 2] direction for the Cr2N phase.

► Chromium/chromium nitride multilayer coatings were prepared by magnetron sputtering below 70 °C.
► Crystalline Cr and Cr2N formation were observed during heating up to 500 °C.
► Lattice constants, coherent scattering length, and texture of Cr and Cr2N phases were recorded.