1. Instantaneous mapping of liquid crystal orientation using a polychromatic polarizing microscope
- Author
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Rajabi, Mojtaba, Lavrentovich, Oleg, and Shribak, Michael
- Subjects
Physics - Optics ,Condensed Matter - Soft Condensed Matter - Abstract
Polarizing microscopy brought about many advancements in the science of liquid crystals and other soft materials, including those of biological origin. Recent developments in optics and computer-based analysis enabled a new generation of quantitative polarizing microscopy which produces spatial maps of the optic axis. Unfortunately, most of the available approaches require a long acquisition time of multiple images which are then analyzed to produce the map. We describe a polychromatic polarizing microscope, which allows one to map the patterns of the optical axis in a single-shot exposure, thus enabling a fast temporal resolution. We present a comparative analysis of the new microscope with alternative techniques such as a conventional polarizing optical microscope and MicroImager of Hinds Instruments., Comment: accepted to journal Liquid Crystals
- Published
- 2022