Titanium nitride films deposited on NaCl single crystal substrates were prepared using reactive d.c. magnetron sputtering under deposition conditions yielding near stoichiometric films. Several large areas (phi = 20 nm) of superstructure were formed by annealing these films under vacuum at 873 K for 30 min. The existence of a superstructure was observed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) in thin films which were annealed at 873 K. Only the normal structure was observed below this temperature. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.