TiN films were deposited by an off-plane double bend filtered cathodic vacuum arc technique. Atomic force microscopy and x-ray diffraction were used to study the surface morphology and crystal structure. Substrate bending methods were used to determine the internal stress in the films. The influence of substrate bias on the structure and internal stress were systematically studied. As substrate bias is increased to -100 V, the surface roughness decreases to the minimum, the preferred orientation changes gradually from (200) to (111), and the internal stress increases greatly to the maximum. Further increase of substrate bias results in the drastic increase of surface roughness and the gradual decrease of internal stress. The preferred orientation changes gradually from (I 11) to (200). Except for the atomic peening, the change in the structure and preferred orientation also contributes to the variation of internal stress in the films with substrate bias.