Combinatorial materials synthesis methods and high throughput screening techniques have been developed to accelerate the process of materials discovery and optimization. In order to apply combinatorial strategies for the innovative materials technology successfully, there are three main stages involved, that is: (i) design of the material chip; (ii) high throughput synthesis of the chip; and (iii) rapid characterization of the chip.i.e. high throughput screening. Further more,high throughput screening is the most important component of combinatorial materials science and technology, it is a major limitation at present. This paper summarizes varieties of high throughput screening methods including microspot X-ray methods, optical measurement techniques, and a novel evanescent microwave microscope used to characterize structural, optical, magnetic, and electrical properties of samples on inorganic material chips.