**9. Conclusions**

The addition of a third element as silicon affects the microstructure and functional properties of the transition metal nitride films, specifically those of zirconium nitride as observed in this chapter. Therefore, it is important has a control of the content of this element in the deposited film to understand and relate the microstructure and their properties.

With a silicon content of 8 at.% and with the deposition parameter used, the microstructure changed from a polycrystalline structure of fcc-ZrN (free silicon) to a mixture of nanocrystalline (ZrN) and amorphous (SiNx) phases, and with an increase in the Si content (15 at.%), the films were amorphous. However, these films showed the formation of two crystalline phases corresponding to zirconium nitride and zirconium oxide due to the base pressure used, which is not high enough to remove oxygen in the deposited chamber, and high enthalpy of formation for ZrO2.

These changes in the microstructure and the mixture of phases present in the films generated changes in the functional properties of zirconium nitride:

