Thin film coated microwell arrays and methods of using same

An array comprising:

• a fiber optic faceplate substrate that comprises a planar top surface comprising a plurality of etched reaction chambers and a polished optically conductive planar bottom surface;
• wherein, each reaction chamber comprises an interior bottom surface and an interior sidewall surface;
• further wherein the top surface of the array and the interior sidewall surface of substantially all of the reaction chambers is coated with a non-transparent thin film coating and the interior bottom surface of substantially all of the reaction chambers does not have a non-transparent coating, wherein the non-transparent coating is opaque;
• and
• at least one of the interior bottom surface or interior sidewall surface of substantially all of the reaction chambers or top surface is coated with a transparent thin film coating, which differs from the non-transparent coating and wherein the non-transparent coating is positioned underneath the transparent coating, and wherein the transparent coating is optically transparent, 0.1-5.0 microns thick, and is impermeable to water.