The thin films techniques applied to Superconducting RF (SRF) have a long history at CERN. A large panel of cavities has been coated from LEP, to LHC. For the current and future projects (HIE-ISOLDE, HL-LHC, FCC) there is a need offurther higher RF-performances with focus on minimizing residual resistance Rres and maximizing quality factor Q0 of the cavities. This paper will present CERN’s developments on thin films to achieve these goals through the following main axes of research: The first one concerns the application of different coating techniques for Nb (DC-bias diode sputtering, magnetron sputtering and HiPIMS). Another approach is the investigation of alternative materials like Nb3Sn. These lines of development will be supported by a material science approach to characterize and evaluate the layer properties by means of FIB-SEM, TEM, XPS, XRD, etc. In addition a numerical tool for plasma simulation will be exploited to develop adapted coating systems and optimize the coating process, from plasma generation to thin film growth.