Thin films of energetic materials are widely studied to understand thermodynamic properties, sensitivity, nanodetonics and coarsening. In this work we investigate the fabrication of thin film energetic materials through spin coating to yield reproducible materials to study. The crystalline structure of these energetic materials is found to have a strong dependence on experimental parameters, such as the rotational speed and solution concentration. In this study, thin films of pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) produced by spin coating have been systematically investigated giving films with controlled morphology. (C) 2013 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.