In recent years a number of papers have been written concerning vacuum web coating of acrylate films onto a variety of substrates, for a variety of applications, utilizing the polymer multi-layer (PML) process for flash evaporation of monomer fluids. While of interest to many, widespread implementation of the PML process has not occurred, in part due to certain process limitations and stability issues. A new vacuum monomer technique (VMT), which utilizes a new low temperature source design to produce gaseous monomer, has been developed that allows vacuum deposition of acrylate films with the same properties (ultra smooth and pinhole-free) as PML deposited films. The new VMT process should permit sub-micron or multiple-micron thick films to be deposited at web speeds in excess of 100 m/min as in the PML process. There is a large overlap between the classes of starting monomers used in the PML and VMT processes so a great deal of insight into the VMT process can be gleaned from the PML literature. The VMT process will be described, a complete mathematical description and model for the process will be developed, and data relevant to barrier films and optical coatings will be presented.