Chromium nitride coating is characterized for its adequate mechanical properties, corrosion and ox-
idation resistance. The addition of carbon into the chromium nitride coating can improve the hard-
ness and tribological properties effectively. In this study, a series of higher nitrogen contained CrCN
thin films with different carbon contents were grown by the cathodic arc evaporation (CAE) depo-
sition method using different flow ratios of N2 and C2H2 gas mixture. The crystalline structure, sur-
face roughness, microstructures, hardness, adhesion and tribological properties were evaluated. It
was observed that the surface roughness and grain size decreased with increasing C content. A
nanolaminated structure was obtained when the C2H2 gas flow rate was 17.5 sccm. The CrCN coat-
ing containing 3.5 at.% C showed the optimal hardness, adhesion and tribological properties in this
work.