Highly adherent and chemically stable coatings of aluminum nitride are produced by ion beam sputter deposition of graded concentration films of AlN:H(x), where x ranges to zero (AlN) at the outer surface of the film. These layered structures exhibit the good adhesion of AlN:H while maintaining the chemical stability of AlN. On the basis of scanning tunneling microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, films deposited on room temperature substrates (metal or mica) form layers that are smooth (structures smaller than 6 nm) and that remain so for periods longer than one month. Fourier transform spectroscopy indicates that they are chemically unchanged by exposure to air for two months.