This paper describes an increase in thickness of spin coated layers by using IR-irradiation. Hybrid suspensions with 5 wt.% solid content (80% BaTiO(3), 20% ZrO(2)) are spin coated on platinized silicon wafers. The IR-irradiation increases the evaporation rate and accelerates the aging of the solution. This leads to an increase in viscosity and a faster increase of the solid content, which results in an earlier percolation of the hybrid suspension with more particles remaining on the substrate. Using IR-irradiation, an increase in layer thickness from 71 nm to 242 nm could be achieved in one coating step. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.