Effects of factors on residual compressive stress produced in titanium nitride films were investigated. The factors examined were impurity oxygen concentration, ion bombardment and substrate temperature. The films were deposited onto substrates of high speed steel, SKH51. Measurements by particle induced X-ray emission method confirmed the absence of argon in the films. An increase in oxygen concentration gave rise to higher compressive stress in the film. The compressive stress increased with decreasing substrate temperature. The compressive stress produced in the films deposited onto insulated substrate was much less than that onto non-insulated substrate, and the stress in the films onto insulated substrate also increased with decreasing substrate temperature. Attempts have been made to measure the variation in the stress toward the film-substrate interface by a succession of measurements of the stress and dissolution of the film in a boiling hydrogen peroxide solution. Result indicated that the stress in outer layer of the film was smaller than that in inner layer. This variation corresponds the rise of substrate temperature on depositing. An increase in oxygen concentration brought about the grain size reduction. The grain size decreased remarkably by applying a little bias voltage. The grain size in outer layer of the film was larger than that in inner layer owing to the rise of substrate temperature during deposition. These factors affect mobility of adatoms; the grain size is therefore a measure of the mobility. It seems that residual compressive stress is affected by the mobility.