About this Method

What does it do?

• Observe anisotropic crystals in conjunction with a temperature stage to see what happens to the crystal structure upon a phase transition

How does it do it?

• It transmits polarized light onto the crystal, and the anisotropy alters the light wave to produce different colors on the image

Limitations of this Method

Limitations mostly come from use with T-stage

• Can only view from a small (~5 mm) hole in the stage
• Cannot use the guide to move it left-right, only up-down
• Can only use a few magnifications while the lid is on, to use 50x and above you need to take the lid off
• If the lid is off and you run at very low temperatures (<10 °C), you need to have nitrogen blowing on top to prevent condensation
• The water tank needs ice if you go to low enough temperatures