Mueller polarimetric microscopy

We present a multispectral polarimetric imagine, system well suited for complete Mueller matrix microscopy. The source is a spectrally filtered halogen light bulb, and the image is formed on a fast CCD camera The light polarization is modulated before the sample and analyzed after the sample by using nematic liquid crystal modulators.. The whole Mueller matrix image of the sample is typically measured over 5 seconds for a good signal-to-noise ratio. The instrument design, together with an original and easy-to-operate calibration procedure provides a high polarimetric accuracy over wide ranges of wavelengths and magnifications. Mueller polarimetry provides separate images of scalar and vector retardation and dichroism of the sample, together with its depolarizing power, while all these effects do contribute simultaneously to the contrasts observed in standard polarized microsopy. Polarimetric images of several samples, namely an unstained rabbit cornea, a picrosirius red stained hepatic biopsy, and a rat artery specifically stained for collagen III are shown and discussed.