To provide a surface coating thin film generating no crack and excellent in abrasion resistance and surface hardness, and a method for forming the same.

The surface coating thin film is constituted by applying silicon dioxide or a silicon dioxide derivative to the surface of a substrate as a main component and characterized in that an additive containing polyvinyl pyrrolidone(PVP) is dispersed or dissolved. The surface coating thin film forming method includes a process for coating the surface of the substrate with a coating solution containing at least one kind of a silicon-containing compound selected from the group consisting of alkoxysilane, siloxane and organosiloxane and the additive containing PVP and a heating process for heating the coated substrate. The abrasion resistance and surface hardness of the surface coating thin film can be enhanced by dispersing or dissolving PVP in the thin film. Further, since the toughness of the surface coating thin film is enhanced, even if the surface coating thin film is formed by polymerization reaction, no crack is generated.