Thin film technology plays an important role in a wide area of industrial applications. With an upward trend! There are many thin film applications like information and communication technology, optoelectronics, microelectronics, power generation and conversion and many more. In this lecture we introduce the basic concepts for deposition, growth, and characterization of thin films. Starting from a very basic introduction of CVD and PVD we explore the physics of crystal growth (nucleation, epitaxy, structure zone models) and the resulting properties (mechanical, electronical, and optical) of thin films.