This invention relates generally to nucleic acid hybridization analysis. More specifically, an oligonucleotide probe for hybridization analysis is provided, which probe comprises a nucleotide sequence that forms a hairpin structure having a double stranded segment and a single stranded loop, wherein at least a portion of said nucleotide sequences located within said double stranded segment and a portion of said nucleotide sequence located within said single stranded loop collectively form a region that is complementary to a target nucleotide sequence to be hybridized with. Arrays comprising the hairpin probes immobilized on a solid support and methods for nucleic acid hybridization analysis using the probes or array of immobilized probes are also provided. Methods for transcribing and/or amplifying a probe DNA sequence using a hairpin probe are further provided.