Graded coatings have the advantage of having gradual properties such as thermal expansion coefficient and lattice parameter, avoiding adherence problems due to good match between their component materials. In this work, some properties of coatings grown in graded form are presented. The materials were produced using the sputtering dc technique because of its facility to control the deposition parameters and generate homogeneous growth. The target is a disc of titanium and the samples are made of stainless steel 304. The working gases are argon, nitrogen and methane, which are mixed according to the material to be produced. Titatnium (Ti) layer is grown with argon, the titanium nitride (TiN) film is produced with a mixture of argon and nitrogen, and the titanium nitride carbon (TiCN) material is obtained mixing argon (Ar), nitrogen (N2) and methane (CH4). These materials are characterized with scanning probe microscopy (SPM) in atomic force microscopy (AFM) mode in order to determine grain size and with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studying the chemical composition and performing depth profiles.