CrN, CrSiN and CrCuN films were deposited by DC magnetron reactive sputtering with hot pressed pure Cr, CrSi, and CrCu targets, respectively. As substrate bias increased from -50V to -200V, the preferred orientation of CrN films changed from (1 1 1) to (2 0 0). And the Si doping did not change this condition. However, the Cu doping films kept (2 0 0) orientation all along. CrN films presented typical columnar structure, and the alloying of Si and Cu could restrain columnar growth leading to dense structure. The CrSiN film was composed of nanocrystallites distributed in amorphous Si3N4, while no amorphous phase existed in CrCuN films. (C) 2011 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.