Spin coating is a procedure used to apply uniform thin films to flat substrates. An excess amount of a solution is placed on the substrate, which is then rotated at high speed in order to spread the fluid by centrifugal force. A machine used for spin coating is called a spin coater, or simply spinner. Rotation is continued while the fluid spins off the edges of the substrate, until the desired thickness of the film is achieved. The applied solvent is usually volatile, and simultaneously evaporates. So, the higher the angular speed of spinning, the thinner the film. The thickness of the film also depends on the concentration of the solution and the solvent.

Spray coating is a unique deposition technique for thin film solar cells and organic solar cells. A broad range of materials can be deposited with spray coating. For sensitive materials coating in inert environment is possible. Substrates with various shapes and topography can be processed. Due to the nature of spray coating scaling to larger substrates or roll-to-roll manufacturing is easy. Spray coating is a very well established manufacturing technology in MEMS and Packaging.