Ti-Si-N coatings with various silicon contents have been prepared by r.f. sputtering and annealed in vacuum and air at temperatures of up to 1000degreesC. Phase assemblages following coating comprised fcc TiN and a (Ti, Si)N phase referred to as phase 2. Annealing in vacuum showed that recrystallisation occurred in order to relieve residual stresses developed during coating. As the silicon content was increased, the rate of stress relaxation decreased due to a) decreased atom mobility and b) initially coarser grain sizes, both of which decreased recrystallisation rates. For materials comprising TiN and phase 2, phase 2 decomposed during vacuum annealing. For pure phase 2 materials no such decomposition effects were observed. Annealing in air results in oxidation of the Ti-Si-N coatings to TiO2 and SiO2. As the silicon content is increased, the oxidation resistance improves until an optimum level of Si is exceeded, when it decreases again (see [1, 2] also).