Abstract: This paper studies the structure of IBED Cr-N coatings with different parameters such as N partial pressure, N ions bombarding energy
and N ions/Cr atoms ratio. The results show that the chemical composition and structure of the coatings are mainly determined by N partial pressure.
According to N partial pressure increasing, there are an increase of CrN phase and a decrease of Cr and Cr₂N phase. The grain orientations of the
coatings are affected by bombarding energy. When N ions/Cr atoms ratio changed from 1.45×10^-2 to 5.87×10^-2, high N ion flux of bombarding will result in acceleration of sputtering away from the coated CrN layer as well as its decomposition. In the mean time
Cr₂O₃ is easy to be produced in the layer.

Key words: IBED, coating, Cr-N, structure