Er:Y2O3 thin films have been obtained by spin coating process. Precursor solutions were prepared using nitrates as metal precursors and water as solvent. Citric, malic, and lactic acids were used as complexant. Investigations on resin compositions and on their coating parameters have been made, leading to crack-free thin films with citric and malic acids after direct deposition under standard room conditions (temperature, pressure and atmosphere). The films are homogeneous with a low root mean square roughness, less than 2.5 nm. We demonstrated that the nature of the carboxylic acid is the key point to obtain high quality thin films on silicon substrates from 20 nm up to 230 nm thick, while the film porosity is related to the number of carbon in the acid molecule. All films exhibit up-conversion luminescence in the near infrared and in the visible range, under 1.54 mu m laser excitation. Furthermore, the up-conversion luminescence intensity increases with the applied annealing temperature on the films, due to an improvement of their crystallinity and to the total decomposition of organics. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.