This work presents the result of the growth of thin zirconium films on the GaN(0 0 0 1) surface under various conditions. In experiment were used the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) techniques, which allowed to investigate the chemical composition, bonding environment and surface reconstruction. It is shown that zirconium forms ZrN, ZrNxOy, ZrO, and ZrO2 compounds, depending on the selected experimental conditions: the pressure and annealing temperature. Such a varied zirconium growth behaviour is explained by the diffusion of oxygen and nitrogen in the created interface region. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.