TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: The inorganic material comprises metal oxides, metal nitrides or silicon oxides, and the composition of the second layer changes continuously in the thickness direction.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: The first layer includes a material comprising of a compound of formula (X1a-M-Y1b) (I) and a compound of formula (M-Y1b) (II). The protective layer (24) includes a material comprising of a compound of formula (Z1a-M-Y1b) (III) and (II). The precursors include at least one material comprising silica, alumina and (I). The precursors include at least one compound comprising tetraethylorthosilicate, 3-glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane, gamma -aminopropyltriethoxysilane, dimethyldimethoxysilane or dimethyldiethoxysilane. The hydrophobic organic precursors include a material (III).X1a = methacryloxypropyl, methacryloxymethyl, 3-glycidoxypropyl, 1-10C alkyl, 3-10C cycloalkyl, phenyl, phenethyl, vinyl, butenyl, 7-octenyl, benzyl, 3-aminopropyl, N-(2-aminoethyl-3-aminoisobutyl), N-(2-aminoethyl-3-aminopropyl), N-(6-aminohexyl-3-aminopropyl), N-(2-aminohexyl-3-aminomethyl), N-(2-aminoethyl-11-aminoundecyl) or aminobutyl;M = Si, Al, Ti, Zr, Zn, P, V, Ge or B;Y1b = -H, -CH3, -OCH3, -OC2H5, -OC3H7, -OC4H9, -OC5H11 or -Cl;a = 3;b = 1-5; andZ1a = methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, n-butyl, isobutyl, hexyl, hexadecyl, n-heptyl, n-octyl, n-octadecyl, dodecyl, decyl, pentyl, docosyl, bis(trimethylsilylmethyl), 3,3,3-trifluoropropyl, tridecafluoro-1,1,2,2-tetrahydrooctyl, fluoroalkyl, fluoroalkoxy, pentafluorophenyl, heptadecafluoro-1,1,2,2-tetrahydrodecyl, 3-heptafluoroisopropoxypropyl, trifluoromethyl, nonafluorohexyl, pentafluorophenylpropyl, perfluorodecyl, perfluorotetradecyl, 3-trifluoromethyltetrafluorophenyl or trifluoromethyl.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - POLYMERS - Preferred Components: The thin layer has a stepwise or smooth composition gradient with respect to the thickness direction of the layer. The thin layer further comprises: a second layer formed on the first layer, where the second layer includes two or more inorganic materials, has a composition gradient in the thickness direction, and has a small difference in surface energy at the interface with the first layer; and a protective layer formed on the second layer, where the protective layer includes two or more materials, has a composition gradient in the thickness direction, and has a hydrophobic surface. The thin layer comprises at least first and second layers in an alternating manner to form a multilayer structure. The first and second layers of the thin layer are an anchoring layer (22) and a barrier layer (23), respectively, and the thin layer is a barrier thin layer. Preferred Method: The method further comprises forming a second layer on the thin layer, where the second layer includes two or more inorganic materials and has a composition gradient. The second layer is formed by physical vapor deposition using a multi-target. The method further comprises forming a protective layer having a composition gradient on the second layer by a sol-gel process, where the protective layer is formed using a composition comprising: two or more precursors comprising of hydrophobic organic precursors and inorganic precursors; an organic solvent; water; and optionally, an inorganic precursor. In the method, the composition gradient of the thin layer can be controlled by varying one or more parameters comprising the content of the precursors, the kind of functional groups of the precursors, the water content, heating temperature during the sol-gel process, or the kind of a catalyst. The method further comprises sequentially repeating the steps of forming the thin layer and the second layer twice or more to form a multilayer structure consisting of pairs of the layers. EXAMPLE - Tetraethylorthosilicate, 3-glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane, gamma -aminopropyltriethoxysilane and dimethyldimethoxysilane were mixed in a molar ratio of 2:2:1:1 in ethanol to prepare a solution. To the solution was added water in an equimolar amount relative to hydroxyl groups present in the solution. The mixed solution was applied to a 100 mu m-thick plastic substrate by spin coating with 2000 revolutions per minute (rpm), at an acceleration rate of 500 rpm/seconds for 20 seconds. Subsequently, the coated substrate was heated in a vacuum oven at 80 degrees C for 2 hours to form an anchoring layer. Aluminum oxide-silicon dioxide was deposited on the anchoring layer using a deposition system to produce an 50 nm-thick barrier layer.