Variations in TEMPO film topography are observed at layer thicknesses up to 30 nm. Figure -g shows AFM images collected at what we term the intermediate stage, corresponding to 300 seconds of plasma polymer deposition. The topography images share similar characteristics to the single layer images, suggesting that the observed variations in initial layer formation influence growth for several layers during the early stages of plasma polymer deposition. After 600s, AFM topography appears to converge across samples, with comparable RMS roughness of 280 pm, 330 pm and 290 pm for SiO2, HOPG and Au(111), respectively (Figure ). Molecular thicknesses of 30 ± 2 nm, 28 ± 2 nm and 35 ± 2 nm were measured on SiO2, HOPG and Au(111), respectively, determined by an AFM scratch test (Figure ).