TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: The inorganic material is an oxide, a nitride, or an oxynitride.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INSTRUMENTATION AND TESTING - Preferred Method: The method (M1) further comprises: defining a threshold value for the measurable aspect of the protrusions to determine protrusions for which local treatment is to be effected; polymerizing a precursor (500); locally treating protrusions for which the measurable aspect exceeds the threshold value; effecting at least one treatment where the surface of the protrusion adjacent to the shadowed region is caused to have affinity for a liquid greater than an affinity of the remainder of the surface of the protrusion for the liquid and greater than an affinity of the surface for the liquid; applying the liquid to at least a portion of the surface including protrusions, and removing a bulk of the liquid in a manner so that some of the liquid remains only in the vicinity of the surface of the protrusions adjacent to the shadowed region; applying a thin barrier layer (320) prior to applying the liquid to protect against damage; scanning the surface to determine the location on the surface of protrusions for which the measurable aspect exceeds the threshold value; and applying a thin barrier layer prior to applying a material to the protrusion to protect against damage. In the method (M1): locally treating the protrusion results in reduction of a volume associated with a shadowed region of the protrusion; application of the material results in a surface of the material extending beyond the perimeter of the protrusion; application of the material results in a surface of the material having an average perimeter which increases in a downward direction; and desired topological features other than protrusions are determined and excluded from analysis for local treatment. The step of locally treating comprises: removal of the protrusion or reduction in size of the protrusion; reducing a volume associated with a shadowed region of the protrusion; or applying a material to the protrusion to reduce the volume associated with the shadowed region of the protrusion. The material is applied by inkjet printing or drop coating to protrusions for which a measurable aspect exceeds a threshold value. The threshold value is determined at least in part on the basis of a total actual cycle time required to cover protrusions that do not exceed the threshold value in a thin film deposition process. The barrier layer is deposited by chemical vapor deposition, sputtering, electron-beam, atomic layer deposition, evaporation, or spin coating. The method (M2) further comprises: defining a threshold value for the measurable aspect of the protrusions to determine protrusions for which local treatment is to be effected; and depositing a protective, thin barrier layer on the device prior to locally treating the protrusion. Preferred Components: The protrusion is a defect. The defect comprises a particle on the surface. The protrusions are locally treated, resulting in treatment of less than 10%, preferably less than 1% of an area of the surface. The material is liquid and the liquid comprises the precursor to a polymer. The measurable aspect is a dimension of the protrusions, a projected area of the protrusions, or a volume of the protrusions. The surface of the protrusion adjacent to the shadowed region has affinity for the liquid. The surface of the protrusion adjacent to the shadowed region is hydrophobic and the liquid is non-polar or the surface of the protrusion adjacent to the shadowed region is hydrophilic and the liquid is polar. The barrier layer comprises at least one of an inorganic material, an organic material, or a metallic material. The surface is a surface of a microelectronic device and the thin film is to be deposited to encapsulate the microelectronic device. The microelectronic device is formed on at least one flexible substrate. The surface is flexible and the protrusion is a particle defect, where application of the material results in fixing of the position of the particle defect relative to the surface. The thin film comprises at least one of an inorganic material, metallic film or metallic material, or organic material. The thin film comprises many layers. The thin film comprises a layer of a first material and at least a second layer of a second material different from the first material. In the encapsulated device protrusions exceeding a threshold value for the measurable aspect of the protrusions have undergone local treatment to reduce the thickness of the thin film required to encapsulate the device. In the microelectronic device protrusions exceeding a threshold value for the measurable aspect of the protrusions have undergone local treatment to reduce the thickness of the thin film required to encapsulate the microelectronic device.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - POLYMERS - Preferred Components: The liquid comprises acrylate compounds or epoxy compounds. The organic material is an acrylate or a siloxane. EXAMPLE - No suitable example given.