Patent ID: 8221828

Claim:
A method of forming an anti-wetting protective layer having a durability in the range of approximately 10 to 500 microNewtons, an RMS surface roughness in the range of approximately 25 to 500 nm, and a film coverage in the range of approximately 25 percent to 60 percent on a surface of a substrate, the method comprising: placing the substrate in a vacuum deposition chamber; generating nanoparticles on the surface of the substrate with a surface chemical reaction between first species and second species occurring on the surface of the substrate, wherein the first species arises from a preselected amount of a first gaseous substance injected into the chamber in a first preselected time interval, and the second species arises from a preselected amount of a second different gaseous substance injected into the chamber in another later second preselected time interval; attaching said nanoparticles to each other and to the substrate surface with linker molecules arising from a gaseous linker chemistry injected into the chamber during a third preselected time interval occurring later than the second predetermined time interval; and disposing a low surface energy coating having a thermodynamic surface energy less than 70 dynes per square centimeter over the linker molecules.