Influence of Annealing Temperature on the Morphology and Crystallography of Cr, CrN and CrAlN Films

The present study relates the influence of the annealing temperature on the morphology and crystallography of Cr, CrN and CrAlN films, deposited on silicon substrate (100) using magnetron sputtering. Annealing treatments are performed at 500°C, 600°C and 800°C for 1 hour on Cr coating samples for different thickness. At low temperatures, the results show a thermal stability of these coatings and the XRD analysis show that these films are crystallized according to the orientation (110). Annealing treatments that carried out on CrN coatings, between 500°C and 1000°C, show a thermal stability of these coatings until 700°C. Moreover, {111} texture is observed for the CrN thinner films, while texture {200} is obtained for CrN thick films. However, adding aluminum increases the oxidation resistance up to 1200°C but with lower adherence.