Structural and electrical transport studies on CrN(001) thin films

We report the structural and electrical transport studies on CrN1-x (CrN) thin films with varying of N-2 flow (5 - 25 SCCM) in an Argon environment of 25 SCCM. CrN thin films were grown at 600 degrees C, in a multi chamber vacuum system at working pressure of 1x10(-2) Torr, under the base pressure of 1x10(-7) Torr. Structural and electrical transport measurements were carried out using X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and SQUID magnetometer, respectively. XRD (theta-2 theta, omega-2 theta, and omega) patterns on CrN thin films revealed a structural phase transition which is associated with the lattice parameter variation from 4.136 to 4.168 angstrom. The temperature dependent resistivity measurements on CrN/MgO(001) showed a clear change in slope at approximate to 280 K which confirms the magneto-structural transition of CrN from paramagnetic rock salt face-centered-cubic (FCC) to antiferromagnetic orthorhombic structure.