Polarized Light Microscopy
Polarized light microscopy is no stranger to microscopy world as this microscopy technique mostly relies on a material’s optical properties to examine microstructure. This microscopy equipment provides all the benefits of bright field microscopy and offers a wide range of rich information that any other optical microscopy technique can’t offer. Although this technique has been neglected and undervalued as an investigative tool, polarized light microscopy emerge as one of the most reliable and effective device in its area of expertise. It also provides incredible information on absorption color and boundaries between minerals of differing refractive indices as well as in distinguishing between isotropic and anisotropic materials.
An isotropic material mostly demonstrates the same optical properties in all directions, such as gases, liquids, unstressed glasses and cubic crystals. Anisotropic material on the other hand includes 90 percent of all solid substances, have optical properties that vary with the orientation of incident light with the crystallographic axes. Often times this technique exploits optical properties of anisotropy to reveal detailed information about the structure and composition of minerals as well as exploits the interference of the split light rays, as they are reunited along the same optical path to extract information about these materials.
Often times it will produce a beautiful kaleidoscope colors displayed by specimens under crossed polarizer’s arises as a result of the interference between light waves passing through the specimen. All these microscopy techniques are invaluable for identification and diagnostic purposes. Another contribution of polarized light microscopy is best known for its geological applications, primarily for the study of minerals in rock thin sections. It also can be used to study many other materials that includes both natural and industrial minerals whether refined, extracted or manufactured, composites such as cements, ceramics, mineral fibers and polymers, and crystalline or highly ordered biological molecules such as DNA, starch, wood and urea. Used both qualitatively and quantitatively, this technique is an outstanding tool for materials science, geology, chemistry, biology, metallurgy and even medicine.
Qualitative polarizing microscopy is very popular in practice, with numerous volumes dedicated to the subject, while quantitative light microscopy is primarily employed in crystallography. This technique represents a far more difficult subject that is usually restricted to geologist, mineralogist and chemist. So surf up and learn more amazing things about polarized light microscopy as you browse the pages of this site.
