Polarized light microscopy: W.C. McCrone, L.B. McCrone, J.G. Delly Ann Arbor Science Publishers Inc, 1978

Abstract

In the establishment of interference colors in weakly birefringent materials within living organisms, in fixed tissues or in preparations of liquid crystals, a compensating birefringent plate is positioned in series with the object in the direction of the light path between a crossed polarizer and analyzer in a polarizing microscope, and is aligned with the vibrational direction of its slow wave at a small angle of horizontal rotation from the vibrational direction of the polarizer or of the analyzer. The small angle of rotation is between 2° and 15°, more especially 4° and 7.5°. The chromatic response (color intensity) is enhanced and increased color contrast is obtained for all live organisms, freshly fixed sections, and liquid crystal preparations.