A polymer assisted deposition process for deposition of metal oxide films
and the like is presented. The process includes solutions of one or more
metal precursor and soluble polymers having binding properties for the
one or more metal precursor. After a coating operation, the resultant
coating is heated at high temperatures to yield metal oxide films and the
like. Such films can be epitaxial in structure and can be of optical
quality. The process can be organic solvent-free.