Novel copolymers provide for improved microarray performance. The copolymers are based on acrylamide, acrylate, and/or methacrylate monomer repeat units and include specific, functional monomers including a fluorinated monomer to control surface hydrophilicity such as increase water contact angle and reduce spot size when the copolymer is used in thin film form on a microarray substrate. The copolymers are prepared by free-radical polymerization and are random in nature.