A method of changing ordinary light to polarized light for microscopic examination to identify whether a substance is single refraction (isotropic) or birefringence (anisotropy). Birefringence is a fundamental property of crystals. Therefore, polarized light microscopes are widely used in minerals, chemistry, and other fields, as well as in biology and botany.
Polarized light microscopy is a microscope that identifies the optical properties of the fine structure of a substance. All materials with birefringence can be clearly distinguished under a polarizing microscope. Of course, these materials can also be observed by staining, but some are not possible and a polarizing microscope must be used.
The characteristic of a polarizing microscope is a method of changing ordinary light to polarized light for microscopic examination to identify whether a substance is unirefringent (isotropic) or birefringent (anisotropic).
Birefringence is a basic feature of crystals. Therefore, polarizing microscopes are widely used in the fields of minerals, polymers, fibers, glass, semiconductors, and chemistry. In biology, many structures are also birefringent, which requires a polarization microscope to distinguish them. In botanical aspects, such as identifying whether fibers, chromosomes, spindle filaments, starch granules, cell walls, and cytoplasm and tissues contain crystals. In plant pathology, the invasion of germs often causes changes in the chemical properties of the tissue, which can be identified by polarized light microscopy.