To study the influence of the nitrogen vacancy(V_N)on mechanical and electrical properties of zirconium nitride deeply,Zr N_x films with different V_N concentrations were synthesized on the Si(111)substrates by enhanced magnetic filtering arc ion plating.The morphologies,microstructures,residual stresses,compositions,chemical states,mechanical and electrical properties of the as-deposited films were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy,X-ray diffraction,X-ray photoelectron spectrometry,Nanoindenter and Hall effect measurements.The results showed that Zr N_x films exhibited rocksalt single-phase structure within a V_N concentration ranging from 26 to 5%.The preferred orientation,thickness,grain size and residual stress of the Zr N_x films kept constant at different V_N concentrations.Both the nanohardness and elastic modulus first increased and then decreased with the decrease in V_N concentration,reaching the peaks around 16%.And the electric conductivity of the Zr N_x films showed a similar tendency with nanohardness.The underlying atomic-scale mechanisms of V_N concentration-dependent hardness and electric conductivity enhancements were discussed and attributed to the different electronic band structures,rather than conventional meso-scale factors,such as preferred orientation,grain size and residual stress. To study the influence of the nitrogen vacancy (V_N) on mechanical and electrical properties of zirconium nitride deeply, Zr N_x films with different V_N concentrations were synthesized on the Si (111) substrates by enhanced magnetic flux arc ion plating. The morphologies, microstructures, residual stresses, compositions, chemical states, mechanical and electrical properties of the as-deposited films were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectrometry, Nanoindenter and Hall effect measurements. N_x films showed rocksalt single-phase structure within a range of V_N concentration ranging from 26 to 5%. The preferred orientation, thickness, grain size and residual stress of the Zr N_x films kept constant at different V_N concentrations.Both the nanohardness and elastic modulus first increased and then decreased with the decrease in V_N concentration, reaching the peaks around 16% .And the electric conductivity of the Zr N x films showed a similar tendency with nanohardness. The underlying atomic-scale mechanisms of V_N concentration-dependent hardness and electric conductivity enhancements were discussed and attributed to the different electronic band structures, rather than conventional meso-scale factors, such as preferred orientation, grain size and residual stress