A transmission electron microscopy study ofCrN0.6/TiNsuperlattices deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering is described. The stable structure ofCrN0.60is hexagonal, but high resolution transmission electron microscopy images of the superlattices showed thatCrN0.6layers ⩽10 nm thick were cubic, while 50 nm thick layers were hexagonal. That is, the cubic CrN structure was “epitaxially stabilized” by the cubic TiN, with which there is a 2.4&percent; lattice mismatch. The superlattices with hexagonalCrN0.6showed high strains and defect densities within ≈5 nm of each interface, presumably due to the 5.4&percent; volume decrease associated with the cubic-to-hexagonal transformation. The effect of this strain on the transformation is discussed. ©1998 American Institute of Physics.