Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	EP/C522982/1
Title:	High Throughput Synthesis and Analysis Using Arrays of Near Field Thermal Probes
Principal Investigator:	Reading, Professor M
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
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Department:	Chemistry
Organisation:	University of East Anglia
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	07 March 2005	Ends:	06 June 2005	Value (£):	13,450
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Combinatorial Chemistry Genomics
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
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Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
Recent work has shown that near field thermal probes can be used for a variety of types of analysis including the detection of transitions such as glass transitions, infra red spectroscopy and pyrolysis mass spectroscopy. It has also been shown that the same probes can be used to pick up very small quantities of materials and deposit them in selected areas. Large arrays, of over 1000, of such probes have been made by IBM as part of an effort to use them for thermomechanical data storage. Each probe can be individually addressed and can image with sub-nanometer resolution. This opens up the possibility that these arrays could be used to carry out analysis of materials in a massively parallel way. We propose that these probes can be used to pattern a surface with nanoarrays of selected molecules using a combination of picking up and transferring material and using local heating to cause chemical reactions to occur in selected areas. This can be combined with patterning using ablation with a hot tip. We also propose that the thermal probes can also be used as electrodes to separate materials by electrophoresis including 2D chromatography. Samples can be transferred to these arrays for separation and analysis. The probes can also be used to detect binding events such as those that occur in 'gene chip' devices thus opening up a further field of application.
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