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Processing of Thin Films Fundamental Issues on Sol–Gel Coatings: Stress Evolution, Cracking and Radiative Striations INTRODUCTION Sol–gel technique for ceramic thin films deposition already has long history. It has attracted many people because the whole process can be conducted under the ambient pressure. However, examples of commercialized gel-derived ceramic coatings, especially dielectric and electronic thin film devices, are quite few in spite of a great number of papers published in journals. The following issues make people in industries hesitate to utilize the sol–gel technique. Gel film deposition and firing should be cycled when thickness over sub micron is to be achieved without cracking. Alkoxide-derived sols generally increase in viscosity with time due to polymerization reaction. In other words, sols are unstable, having short pot-life. Alcohols as solvent are volatile and inflammable, which demands strict precautions in factories. Dielectric and electronic thin film devices often need to have thickness over submicron so that they have desired properties or functions. Therefore, among the critical issues mentioned above, the requirement of cycled deposition is practically serious. Techniques that suppress cracking should be found, and more basically, understanding on crack formation and stress evolution in films should be obtained, which is still lacking in the present state. The most scientific issues on sol–gel processing are very widely and deeply discussed and documented in the great book, “Sol–gel Science: The Physics and Chemistry of Sol–Gel Processing” authored by Brinker and Scherer, which was published in 1990 (Brinker and Scherer, 1990a). Although more than 13 years have passed, nobody thinks that this book is out-of-date, and every scientist comes back to it when encountering scientific problems. As far as sol–gel coating is concerned, how the processing parameters affect the thickness, structure and porosity is precisely discussed in the bo