Amorphous carbon nitride films deposited on Si(001) substrates by a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique using CH$_4$and $N_2$as reaction gases were thermally annealed at various temperatures under$ N_2$atmosphere, then their physical properties were investigated particularly as a function of annealing temperature. Above $600^{circ}C$ a small amount of crystalline $eta$-$C_3$$N_4$ phase evolves, while the film surface becomes very rough due to agglomeration of fine grains on the surface. As the annealing temperature increases, both the hardness and the $sp^3$ bonding nature are enhanced. In contrast to our expectation, higher annealing temperature results in a relatively higher friction mainly due to big increase in roughness at that temperature.