Polarized light microscopy can mean any of a number

of optical microscopy techniques involving polarized light. Simple techniques

include illumination of the sample with polarized light. Directly transmitted
light can, optionally, be blocked with a polariser orientated at 90 degrees to
the illumination. More complex microscopy techniques which take advantage
of polarized light include differential interference contrast
microscopy and interference reflection microscopy.
These illumination techniques are most commonly used
on birefringent samples where the polarized light interacts strongly with the
sample and so generating contrast with the background. Polarized light
microscopy is used extensively in optical mineralogy. 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 brightfield 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.
Basic Properties of Polarized Light
The wave model of light describes light waves vibrating at right angles to the
direction of propagation with all vibration directions being equally probable.
This is referred to as "common" or "non-polarized" white light. In polarized
light there is only one vibration direction (Figure 1). The human eye-brain
system has no sensitivity to the vibration directions of light, and polarized
light can only be detected by an intensity or color effect, for example, by
reduced glare when wearing polarized sun glasses.
Polarized light is most commonly produced by absorption of light having a set
of specific vibration directions in a dichroic medium. Certain natural minerals,
such as tourmaline, possess this property, but synthetic films invented by Dr.
Edwin H. Land in 1932 soon overtook all other materials as the medium of
choice for production of polarized light. Tiny crystallites of iodoquinine
sulfate, oriented in the same direction, are embedded in a transparent
polymeric film to prevent migration and reorientation of the crystals. Land
developed sheets containing polarizing films that were marketed under the
1. What is Polarized light
microscopy?
2. How does Polarized light
microscopy work