An apparatus comprising a substrate having a surface and a dielectric layer comprising a distribution of particles. The layer is located over the surface and has a dielectric constant of seven or more. Each particle has a particle core and a polymer shell that is chemically bonded thereto and located around the associated particle core. Each particle core includes a material having a dielectric constant of about fifteen or more. Aggregates of the particle cores having diameters of about 0.5 microns or more are substantially absent from the layer.