INTRODUCTION TO POLARIZING

MICROSCOPE
 INTRODUCTION
• Polarized light is a contrast-enhancing
technique that improves the quality of the
image obtained with birefringent (having two
different refractive indices) materials.
• In optics, the refractive index of a material is a
dimensionless number that describes how fast
light travels through the material.
•  Polarized light microscopes have a high degree
of sensitivity and can be utilized for both
quantitative and qualitative studies targeted at a
wide range of anisotropic specimens
• (isotropic: Properties of a material are identical
in all directions. anisotropic: Properties of a
material depend on the direction)
• Qualitative polarizing microscopy is very popular
in practice, with numerous volumes dedicated
to the subject.
• In contrast, the quantitative aspects of
polarized light microscopy, which is primarily
employed in crystallography, represent a far
more difficult subject that is usually restricted
to geologists, mineralogists, and chemists.
• However, steady advances made over the past
few years have enabled biologists to study the
birefringent character of many anisotropic
sub-cellular assemblies.
• The polarized light microscope is designed to
observe and photograph specimens that are
visible primarily due to their optically
anisotropic character.
• In order to accomplish this task, the
microscope must be equipped with both
a polarizer, positioned in the light path
somewhere before the specimen, and
an analyzer, placed in the optical pathway
between the objective rear aperture and the
observation tubes or camera port.
•  Image contrast arises from the interaction of
plane-polarized light with a birefringent (or
doubly-refracting) specimen to produce two
individual wave components that are each
polarized in mutually perpendicular planes.
• The velocities of these components, which are
termed the ordinary and the extraordinary 
wave fronts, are different and vary with the
propagation direction through the specimen.
• Polarized light microscopy is capable of
providing information on absorption color and
optical path boundaries between minerals of
differing refractive indices, in a manner similar
to bright field illumination, but the technique
can also distinguish between isotropic and
anisotropic substances.
• Furthermore, the contrast-enhancing
technique exploits the optical properties
specific to anisotropy and reveals detailed
information concerning the structure and
composition of materials that are invaluable for
identification and diagnostic purposes.
• Polarized light microscopy is perhaps best known for
its applications in the geological sciences, which
focus primarily on the study of minerals in rock thin
sections.
• A wide variety of other materials can readily be
examined in polarized light, including both natural
and industrial minerals, cement composites,
ceramics, mineral fibers, polymers, starch, wood,
urea, and a host of biological macromolecules and
structural assemblies.
• The technique can be used both qualitatively and
quantitatively with success, and is an outstanding
tool for the materials sciences, geology, chemistry,
biology, metallurgy, and even medicine.
• The polarizer and analyzer are the essential components
of the polarizing microscope, but other desirable
features include:
• Specialized Stage - A 360-degree circular rotating
specimen stage to facilitate orientation studies with
centration of the objectives and stage with the
microscope optical axis to make the center of rotation
coincide with the center of the field of view.
• Many stages designed for polarized light microscopy also
contain a vernier scale so that rotation angle can be
measured to an accuracy of 0.1 degree. For advanced
studies of conoscopic images, a universal stage having
multiple axes of rotation can also be employed to enable
observation of the specimen from any direction.
• Centerable Revolving Nosepiece - Because
the objective optical axis position varies from
one assembly to another, many polarized light
microscopes are equipped with a specialized
nosepiece that contains a centering
mechanism for individual objectives.
• This enables each objective to be centered
with respect to the stage and microscope
optical axis so that specimen features remain
in the center of the view field when the stage
is rotated through 360 degrees.
• Strain Free Condenser - Condensers designed for
polarized light microscopy have several features in
common, including the use of strain free lenses.
• Some condensers are equipped with a receptacle
for the polarizer or have the polarizing element
mounted directly into the condenser, beneath the
aperture diaphragm.
• Many polarized light condensers have a top lens
that can be removed from the light path to
generate nearly parallel illumination wave fronts
for low magnification and birefringence
observations.
• Eyepieces - Polarized light microscope
 eyepieces are fitted with a cross wire reticle
(or graticule) to mark the center of the field of
view.
• Orientation of the eyepiece with respect to
the polarizer and analyzer is guaranteed by a
point pin that slides into the observation tube
sleeve.