The characteristics and adhesion strength of TiN layer deposited by D. C. magnetron sputtering were investigated. Three types of TiN layers were deposited on STS304 stainless steel. Scratch tests were performed to determine the effect of deposition temperature, the thickness of coated TiN layer and the titanium inter-layer on the adhesion strength. TiN multilayer with titanium inter-layer showed the highest critical load in the deposition temperature range of $25^{circ}C$ to $300^{circ}C$. Adhesion strength of TiN multilayer with titanium inter-layer was raised from 15N to 20N by raising deposition temperature from $25^{circ}C$ to $400^{circ}C$. Adhesion strength was raised from 18N to 38N by increasing the thickness of outer layer of TiN multilayer from 2.1 $mu extrm{m}$ to 9.5 $mu extrm{m}$.