PEM-Based Polarization Imaging System
Imaging of birefringence is a powerful tool for understanding complex spatial interactions in materials. The Exicor MicroImager can be customized to select specific measurement wavelengths, and offers quick and reliable measurements in an integrated system package.
Hinds Instruments has applied the power and versatility of the PhotoElastic Modulator (PEM) to produce a birefringence imaging microscope. As the world leader in PEM technology, Hinds has manufactured and developed PEMs for nearly 40 years. For more than 15 years, Hinds has built birefringence measurement solutions, marketed under the Exicor® brand. The superior polarization modulation capabilities of the PEM have delivered the highest sensitivity birefringence measurement solutions on the market.
Now, the Exicor® MicroImagerTM offers researchers in academia and industry the ability to evaluate birefringence of both biological and industrial materials. With a digital resolution of 0.01nm, a detection limit (noise floor) of 0.1 nm and a measurement range of beyond 300nm (using red light), this new instrument offers quick and reliable measurements in an integrated system package that includes camera, optics, electronics, sample stage hardware and software.
The base system offers a choice of red (standard), amber, green or blue light sources and a choice of either a 2X (5 micron resolution) or 5X (2 micron resolution) objective. Additional objectives may be added as options, including 2X, 5X, 10X and 20X objectives. The base system is compatible with all 4 available objectives and the user can switch between them.
The Exicor MicroImager system is also offered with multiple light sources (3 color RGB and 4 color RAGB). When the optional 3 or 4 multi-color system is selected, a phase unwrapping option may be added to determine the magnitude of high birefringence samples (i.e. >300nm). The phase unwrapping software uses a proprietary algorithm to estimate the true retardation magnitude (up to 2400nm for RGB systems and 3500nm for RAGB systems). The system can also be customized to use other wavelength sources (contact Hinds for details).
The Exicor MicroImager is ideal for measuring birefringence in biological structures (see Figure 1), glass, crystals, and many other organic and inorganic samples.
Figures 1 & 2. Birefringence images, left to right: myelinated white matter in a mouse brain; damaged plastic sheet.
SPECIFICATIONS
| Retardation resolution | 0.01 nm |
| Fast axis angle resolution | 0.5 degrees |
| Retardation Repeatability | ≤ 0.6 nm (3 sigma) |
| Wavelengths (standard) | Red (630 nm) |
| (standard) | Green (530 nm) |
| (standard) | Blue (450 nm) |
| Retardation Noise Floor | 0.2 nm |
| Retardation Measurement Range1 | 0 – 0.5 λ2 |
| above 0.5 λ, contact Hinds | |
| Measurement Speed | nominal 7 sec |
| Dimensions Footprint | 30.5 cm x 25.4 cm |
| Height | 68.5 cm |
| Stage Travel (x, y) | 75 mm, 56 mm |
1Multiorder Option available in future
2Wavelength dependent
RESOLUTION AND FIELD OF VIEW
| Imager | Resolution | 2048 nm x 2048 nm |
| Bit-Depth | 12 bits | |
| Objective | Resolution | Field of View |
| 2X | 5 micron | 5.6 mm x 5.6 mm |
| 5X | 2 micron | 2.2 mm x 2.2 mm |
| 10X | 1 micron | 1 mm x 1 mm |
| 20X | 0.7 micron | 0.5 mm x 0.5 mm |
Left: Ipomoea root 5X results; Right: Mosquito larvae #8 5X 32 results
FURTHER READING:
Contact us for more information about the Exicor® MicroImagerTM.