Carbon nitride films, deposited on < 111 > Si substrates at room temperature by XeCl laser ablation of graphite targets in low pressure (1, 5, 10 and 50 Pa) N-2 atmosphere at the fluence of 16 J/cm(2) (similar to 0.5 GW/cm(2)) have been submitted to accurate X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) investigations in order to study the C-N chemical bonding in the films. Multiple binding energy values have been obtained. The N 1s peak of the XPS spectra indicates three different binding states of nitrogen atoms to C atoms, while the C 1s peak, apart from the binding states to nitrogen atoms, indicates other bonding states with regard to carbon atoms.