Abstract
IT is well known that in determining the refractive index of microscopic anisotropic objects by the methods of Becke or Schroeder van der Kolk, and their variants, it is essential to use properly oriented plane-polarized light. Now phase-contrast microscopy, interference microscopy, Schlieren and dark-ground illumination are essentially methods for revealing small variations in refractive index (or strictly, optical path). It would therefore seem desirable, when using these methods with birefringent objects, to employ polarized light. I have found this to be the case in certain circumstances.
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References
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BARER, R. ‘Phase-Contrast’ Methods and Birefringence. Nature 167, 642–643 (1951). https://doi.org/10.1038/167642a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/167642a0
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