Welcome to our online store, Polarizing Microscopes dot-com. We are a full service microscope dealer with a specialty in polarized light microscopy. We sell both transmitted polarized light microscopes and incident – reflected polarized light microscopes capable of plane polarization and cross polarization. Polarizing microscopes are often called petrographic microscopes since their main application is in studying rocks and minerals under polarized light. The study of optical mineralogy uses petrographic microscopes to produce polarized light for analysis and identification of rock and mineral thin sections on microscope slides.

All of our microscopes have the full Bertrand lens system, complete with a polarizer and an analyzer. Cross polarization can be obtained with our polarized light microscopes by turning the polarizer and the analyzer at 90 degrees to each other, which is the extinction angle. At this extinction angle, most light transmission is blocked by the polarized filters. A polarized light microscope set at the extinction angle is able to view thin sections of birefringent specimens and see stunning coloration. We also provide these compensator plates: quartz wedge, mica (1/4 wavelength), and gypsum (full wavelength).

Most polarizing microscopes produce only transmitted polarized light. This means they provide light from the bottom and it transmits through the thin section of birefringent specimen on a microscope slide. Some polarizing microscopes also have the capability for incident reflected polarized light using epiillumination through the objective lens. These microscopes are commonly known as ore microscopes since they view thick polished specimens of rocks and minerals. The rock ore is polished and only the top surface is viewed. Since the ore is thick, it is opaque and no light is transmitted through it. The ore microscope applies incident polarized light to the specimen’s surface which is reflected back into the microscope objective to be viewed in the eyepieces.

Applications for polarized light microscopes include rock and mineral identification, medical applications such as in viewing microscopic crystals in urine, biochemistry and biomedical research, studying meteorite thin specimens, identifying asbestos using the NIOSH 7400 method with a dispersion staining objective, geology and geological engineering, and in the petroleum industry.

We also provide a wide range of microscope accessories including digital camera adapters and USB computer connected cameras for capturing digital video and digital still images on your computer. Please contact our technical staff today to discuss your microscopy application and allow us to meet all your polarizing microscope needs.