Microstructure and Physicochemical Behavior of Vanadium Nitride Thin Films Prepared by Magnetron Sputtering: A Comprehensive Review

In the field of materials science and engineering, thin film materials have attracted sustained attention due to their unique physicochemical properties and broad application potential. Vanadium nitride (VN) thin films, as a class of transition metal nitrides that combine high hardness, excellent electrical conductivity, and good chemical stability, have demonstrated significant application value in cutting-edge areas such as electrochemical energy storage, microelectronic devices, hard coatings, and catalysis. Magnetron sputtering, an advanced physical vapor deposition (PVD) technique, offers notable advantages in the fabrication of VN thin films, particularly in terms of film uniformity, compositional control, and interface engineering. This review systematically summarizes recent progress in the use of magnetron sputtering for the preparation of VN thin films. In order to maintain a clear focus on the title topic, this review is restricted to VN thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering and directly related thin-film devices. Non-magnetron sputtering synthesis routes, powder-type VN materials, and VN-based nanocomposite electrodes are not treated as independent review objects. Instead, the discussion centers on how different magnetron sputtering modes and process parameters regulate the phase structure, crystallographic texture, grain morphology, residual stress, defect chemistry, surface oxidation, electrical conductivity, corrosion resistance, and electrochemical behavior of VN thin films. In addition, several author-designed summary figures and comparative tables are provided to visualize the logical framework, process-microstructure relationships, quantitative property comparison, and application-oriented processing windows of magnetron-sputtered VN thin films. To maintain the comprehensive nature of the review, the application discussion is further balanced among hard/protective coatings, microelectronic conductive/interface layers, electrocatalytic thin-film electrodes, and thin-film micro-supercapacitors. Through a mode-by-mode comparison and a process-microstructure-property framework, this review aims to provide a focused reference for the controllable fabrication and device-oriented optimization of magnetron-sputtered VN thin films.