The possibility of improving tribological properties of aluminum alloys using a chrome nitride coating is exploded. Thin films of CrxN1−xwere deposited on aluminum 6061 using a reactive sputtering technique in an unbalanced magnetron deposition system. The structure, composition, and morphology of the deposited thin films were characterized by using x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron – probe microanalysis (EPMA), and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).