Polarimetric Microscopy

Polarisation microscopy allows to retrieve at microscopic resolution the nanoscale structural information of the ultrastructure in a non-destructive manner using low cost and experimentally "simple" optical setup.

Polarisation Microscopy, thumbnail
Many biological samples, such as bones, muscles, and neurons, exhibit well-defined organized hierarchical structures ranging from nano, to micro and macro scale. Investigating these structures over the full range of length scales is key to understanding their remarkable properties. Structure below the “resolution” are called ultrastructure.
© Paul Scherrer Institute / Arthur Baroni

The Mueller polarimeter is custom built on an inverted microscope frame, to allow an ease of use like a regular microscope and to measure the full Mueller matrix of a sample at each pixel. More.

The Birefringence microscope is a commercial microscope from Hinds, based on a state-of-the-art PEMs (Photo Electric Modulator) element. More.

This home-built free space setup aims at measuring the polarizance of the sample in 3D. More.

Dr. Arthur Baroni
Structure and Mechanics of Advanced Materials, Center for Photon Science
Paul Scherrer Institute, Forschungsstrasse 111, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
Telephone: +41 56 40 44,  e-mail: arthur.baroni@psi.ch

Dr. Marianne Liebi
Structure and Mechanics of Advanced Materials, Center for Photon Science
Paul Scherrer Institute, Forschungsstrasse 111, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
Telephone: +41 56 310 44 38, e-mail: marianne.liebi@psi.ch