Multi-wavelength quantitative polarization and phase microscope.

Xiaobo Tian,Haijiang Cai,Rongguang Liang,Neal Brock,Guang Yao,Kimiko Della Croce,Xingzhou Tu,Stanley Pau

doi:10.1364/boe.10.001638

Abstract

We introduce a snapshot multi-wavelength quantitative polarization and phase microscope (MQPPM) for measuring spectral dependent quantitative polarization and phase information. The system uniquely integrates a polarized light microscope and a snap-shot quantitative phase microscope in a single system, utilizing a novel full-Stokes camera operating in the red, green, and blue (RGB) spectrum. The linear retardance and fast axis orientation of a birefringent sample can be measured simultaneously in the visible spectra. Both theoretical analysis and experiments have been performed to demonstrate the capability of the proposed microscope. Data from liquid crystal and different biological samples are presented. We believe that MQPPM will be a useful tool in measuring quantitative polarization and phase information of live cells.

Highlights

Measurement of quantitative phase and optical anisotropy information has long been of interest for biomedical researchers
The wavelength-dependent refractive index can be determined with spectroscopic phase microscopy [21], spectroscopic diffraction phase microscopy [22], quantitative dispersion microscopy [23], quantitative phase spectroscopy [24], dynamic spectroscopic phase microscopy [25] and white light interference microscopy [26]
We propose a snapshot multi-wavelength quantitative polarization and phase microscope (MQPPM) using a customized CMOS camera with linear micro-polarizer and Bayer filters [27]

Summary

Introduction

Measurement of quantitative phase and optical anisotropy information has long been of interest for biomedical researchers. We propose a snapshot multi-wavelength quantitative polarization and phase microscope (MQPPM) using a customized CMOS camera with linear micro-polarizer and Bayer filters [27]. It can obtain single-shot measurement of quantitative birefringence and phase information in RGB spectra. Light passes through an achromatic quarter waveplate (QWP1) with fast axis at 45° relative to optical axis, which transforms linear polarized light to circular polarized light. After inserting the Jones matrices into Eq (2), the Jones vector of the beam returning from the test arm becomes

Birefringence measurement

Phase measurement

Experimental results

Birefringent sample

Conclusion