Substrate for sample analyses

A method of screening a plurality of materials, the method comprising:

• providing a plurality of sample materials in a corresponding plurality of separate sample locations on a substrate, each sample location of the plurality of sample locations comprising a first region and a second region, the first region comprising a first material and the second region comprising a second material different from the first material, the first region being adapted to support a portion of the sample material disposed in the corresponding sample location, the first material of the first region being sufficiently transparent to a first form of radiation corresponding to a first wavelength range to permit analysis of the portion of the sample material supported in the first region using a first analytical technique, the second region being adapted to support a portion of the sample material disposed in the corresponding sample location, the second material of the second region being sufficiently transparent to a second form of radiation corresponding to a second wavelength range different from the first wavelength range to permit analysis of a portion of the sample supported in the second region using a second analytical technique, the second material of the second region being sufficiently opaque to the first form of radiation to prohibit analysis of the portion of the sample material supported in the second region using the first analytical technique, and the first material of the first region being sufficiently opaque to the second form of radiation to prohibit analysis of the portion of the sample materials supported in the first region using the second analytical technique;
• screening a first one of the plurality of sample materials at a first sample location of the substrate using the first analytical technique;
• and
• screening the first one of the plurality of sample materials at the first sample location of the substrate using the second analytical technique.

A method of screening a plurality of materials, the method comprising:

• providing a substrate having a first surface, a second surface, and a plurality of sample locations, each sample location of the plurality of sample locations comprising a first region and a second region, the first region comprising a first substrate material and the second region comprising a second substrate material different from the first substrate material, a plurality of sample materials being disposed on the first surface of the substrate in a corresponding plurality of the sample locations, the first substrate material being sufficiently transparent to a first form of radiation corresponding to a first wavelength range to permit screening by a first screening technique and being sufficiently opaque to a second form of radiation to prohibit screening by a second screening technique, and the second substrate material being sufficiently transparent to the second form of radiation corresponding to a second wavelength range different from the first wavelength range to permit screening by the second screening technique and being sufficiently opaque to the first form of radiation to prohibit screening by the first screening technique;
• irradiating the second surface of the substrate at the first region of one or more of the sample locations with the first form of radiation;
• detecting radiation transmitted through, emitted by or scattered by the corresponding sample material resulting from the irradiating at the first region;
• irradiating the second surface of the substrate at the second region of the one or more of the sample locations with the second form of radiation;
• and
• detecting radiation transmitted through, emitted by or scattered by the corresponding sample material resulting from the irradiating at the second region.

An apparatus for holding samples for analysis, the apparatus comprising:

• a substrate having a plurality of sample locations for supporting a plurality of samples, each sample location of the plurality of sample locations providing a sample surface including a first region and a second region, each first region comprising a first substrate material sufficiently transparent to a first form of radiation corresponding to a first wavelength range to permit analysis of a portion of a sample supported in the first region using a first analytical technique selected from a group consisting of an x-ray technique, an infrared technique and a UV-Vis technique, the x-ray technique being x-ray diffraction in a transmission geometry, the infrared technique being an IR spectroscopy or thermal imaging technique, and the UV-Vis technique being UV-vis spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, fluorometry, polarimetry, or optical microscopy, each second region comprising a second substrate material sufficiently transparent to a second form of radiation corresponding to a second wavelength range different from the first wavelength range to permit analysis of a portion of the sample supported in the second region using a second analytical technique selected from the group and different from the first analytical technique, the first substrate material being different from the second substrate material, the first substrate material being sufficiently opaque to the second form of radiation to prohibit analysis of the portion of the sample supported in the first region by the second analytical technique, and the second substrate material being sufficiently opaque to the first form of radiation to prohibit analysis of the portion of the sample supported in the second region by the first analytical technique.