This review summarizes our most recent findings in the structure and properties of amorphous and crystalline carbon nitride coatings, synthesized by reactive magnetron sputtering. By careful control of the plasma conditions via proper choice of process parameters such as substrate bias, target power and gas pressure, one can precisely control film structure and properties. With this approach, we were able to produce amorphous carbon nitride films with controlled hardness and surface roughness. In particular, we can synthesize ultrathin (1 nm thick) amorphous carbon nitride films to be sufficiently dense and uniform that they provide adequate corrosion protection for hard disk applications. We demonstrated the strong correlation between ZrN(111) texture and hardness in CNx/ZrN superlattice coatings. Raman spectroscopy and near-edge x-ray absorption show the predominance of sp³-bonded carbon in these superlattice coatings.