Transition metal nitrides coatings are widely studied because of their good optical, mechanical, thermal... properties. Depending on the microstructure, coatings present different properties. For vanadium nitride (VN), stable and metastable phases can be deposited as coatings. In this study, their physical and adherence properties on 316L stainless steel and AlN substrates depending on the microstructure and the thin film PVD technique used, are compared. Both Reactive High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (R-HiPIMS) and Reactive RadioFrequency Magnetron Sputtering (RF-MS) were selected. Characterisations of structures and films microstructures were realised by Grazing Incidence X-Ray diffraction and Electron Microscopies (SEM and TEM). Scratch tests and nanohardness measurements were used to compare adherence and mechanical properties. OPtical properties were explored with a four-point probe.

The correlation between microstructure, process and physical properties is discussed. The aim of this study is to show the interest for specific applications of VN thanks to the quantification of its physical properties and/or tuning its microstructures.