Condensed Matter Physics Commons^™

Tem Study Of Crystalline Structures Of Cr–N Thin Films, Xingzhong Li, J. Zhang, David J. Sellmyer

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

Cr–N films were grown on Si (001) substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering under an N2/Ar atmosphere at room temperature. The composition of the films, expressed as Cr_1–xN_x, can be varied by changing the N₂/Ar pressure ratio during the synthesis process. Crystalline states of Cr–N films have been studied using electron diffraction. It is well known that two intermediate phases, Cr₂N (hexagonal) and CrN (cubic), exist in the Cr–N system, and small variations around the ideal stoichiometry are tolerated. The present study shows that cubic CrN with vacancies rather than hexagonal Cr_{2 …}