CHEMICAL BIOCHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL PROCESSING IN THIN FILMS

An optical trap is used to translate a particle through a thin film coating on an optically-flat surface. Preferably, the thin film coating is heterogeneous and the optical trap is used to move the particle through a succession of different regions of the thin film coating where different chemical, biochemical and/or biological processes take place. Examples of chemical, biochemical and/or biological processes that might be implemented in accordance with the invention include the following: oligonucleotide synthesis and sequencing, peptide synthesis and sequencing, carbohydrate synthesis and sequencing, combinatorial library synthesis and screening, conventional (i.e., Sanger or Maxam-Gilbert) DNA sequengcing, or single-molecule DNA sequencing. In one embodiment of the invention, reaction products are left behind as the particle is moved through the thin film coating. Advantageously, these products can be identified by suitable means.