The plasma polymerization technique used on mica provided us with ultrathin hydrophobic polymer layers which were homogeneous and water stable but not resistant to peeling in water. These layers did not seem to alter the molecular smoothness of the mica cleavage planes. It was therefore possible to measure force/distance profiles between such polymer surfaces with a comparable accuracy to that usually obtained with multiple beam interferometry. Moreover, such surfaces did not produce any detectable contact angle hysteresis.