<p>The internal energy released by the fuel-oxidizer reaction in combustion sol-gel enables the precursor to be thermally converted at a much lower temperature compared to conventional metal oxide chemistries. Conversion to metal oxide using deep ultraviolet (DUV) light has been reported. While it is logical to assume that the requirement for thermal and radiant energy would be correlated, the relationship between thermal and DUV conversion has not been studied. In this work, indium(III) nitrate precursor formulations with various fuels—different concentrations of acetylacetone (AcAc), indium acetylacetone, acetic acid, and urea—are investigated. We demonstrate that the choice of fuel has a significant impact on the thermal decomposition temperature (<i>T</i>_d) of the indium(III) nitrate precursor, as determined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). We further test the hypothesis that fuel selection influences the DUV photosensitivity in accordance with their <i>T</i>_d. Our results show no clear correlation between <i>T</i>_d and DUV photosensitivity. These results are explained by performing Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to understand the chemical composition of the films as they undergo DUV exposure. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images reveal that these films are smooth, except for nanoscale protrusions present on some films. Finally, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) shows no loss of indium during the DUV conversion, regardless of the fuel used. This study highlights the limitations of extrapolating thermal results to combustion sol-gel conversion using other energy sources.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>