An environmental-barrier layer can protect a die or an array of die. A substrate that includes various functional components can be coupled to a porous environmental-barrier layer to form an array of die prior to dividing the array into individual die. The porous environmental-barrier layer can be a layer that includes polymer or fluoropolymer. The porous environmental-barrier layer can also be a filter layer for allowing certain waves to pass through and blocking particles and other debris. The porous environmental-barrier layer can protect each die in the array and the functional components from damage by protecting the die and the functional components from mechanical, electrical, or environmental damage (e.g., contamination by fluid or dust) without impeding a function of the functional components.