Hexagonal barium ferrite (BaFe12O19) thin films were fabricated by spin coating of precursors from sol-gel methods. Different amount of citric acid was added. Weight loss and changes of chemical bonds during the heat treatment below 500 degrees C were recorded by thermogravity analyzer and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, respectively. The morphology of the films, i.e. the amount of acicular crystallites in the film, was controlled by adjusting the quantity of citric acid. The X-ray diffraction shows that the films are c-axis oriented, but the crystallization is less perfect with the increase of the citric acid. With the increase of the citric acid, the percentage of the acicular crystallites increased. At the same time, the coercivity force increased. The acicular crystallites were not exchange-coupled to the platelet crystallites. The citric acid was understood to form complex with iron ions and accelerate the exothermal auto-combustion. The c-axis oriented growth of the film was thus deteriorated. Crown Copyright (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.