The influence of nitrogen on the morphology of ZrN coatings deposited by magnetron sputtering

[Display omitted] •ZrN coatings were grown on the polished steel substrates at the different N flow rate.•Nanocrystalline microstructure of the surface are explored by AFM analysis.•The main texture of ZrN phase changes from (111) to (200) with the increase of N.•E and H were analyzed by nanoindentation. ZrN coatings with the thickness of about 3 μm were deposited on hardened steel substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering at the constant magnetron power of 700 W and at the substrate bias voltage about − 10 V with different nitrogen flow rate from 3 to 6 sccm. The surface investigations were carried out using scanning electron microscopy, atomic-force microscopy, nanoindentation and glancing-angle X-ray diffraction. It was found that the texture of ZrN phase, the mechanical properties and the size of grains in the polycrystalline ZrN coatings can be controlled using different nitrogen flows.