Cr2O3 thin films with a thickness of similar to 180 nm are grown on c-plane alpha-Al2O3 (0001) single crystal substrates at a substrate temperature of 320 degrees C by non-reactive radio frequency magnetron sputtering. Phase formation and composition are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy analysis. Additional information such as in-plane and out-of-plane lattice parameters, strain relaxation and texture are obtained by reciprocal space mappings (RSMs) and pole figure measurements. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has been carried out in order to study the microstructure and further confirm the orientation and epitaxial relationship between films and substrates. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.