Buyer’s Guide#
Quantitative phase imaging:#
You can use a transmitted light source (LED or a lamp) and a condenser commonly available on almost all microscopes. In addition to the transmitted light imaging path, you will need a motorized stage for acquiring through-focus image stacks.
Quantitative polarization imaging (PolScope):#
The following list of components assumes that you already have a transmitted light source (LED or a lamp) and a condenser.
Buyers have two options:
buy a complete hardware kit from the OpenPolScope project, or
assemble your own kit piece by piece.
Buy a kit from the OpenPolScope project#
Read about the OpenPolScope Hardware Kit.
Complete the OpenPolScope information request form.
Buy individual components#
The components are listed in the order in which they process light. See the build video here to see how to assemble these components on your microscope.
Part |
Approximate Price |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
Illumination filter |
$200 |
We suggest a Thorlabs CWL = 530 nm, FWHM = 10 nm notch filter. |
Circular polarizer |
$350 |
We suggest a Thorlabs 532 nm, left-hand circular polarizer. |
Liquid crystal compensator |
$6,000 |
Meadowlark optics LVR-42x52mm-VIS-ASSY or LVR-50x60mm-VIS-POL-ASSY. Although near-variants are listed in the Meadowlowlark catalog, this is a custom part with two liquid crystals in a custom housing. Contact Meadowlark for a quote. |
Liquid crystal control electronics |
$2,000 |
Meadowlark optics D5020-20V. Choose the high-voltage 20V version. |
Liquid crystal adapter |
$25 - $500 |
A 3D printed part that aligns the liquid crystal compensator in a microscope stand’s illumination path. Check for your stand among the OpenPolScope |
Circular analyzer (opposite handedness) |
$350 |
We suggest a Thorlabs 532 nm, right-hand circular polarizer. |
If you need help selecting or assembling the components, please start an issue on this GitHub repository or contact us at mailto:compmicro@czbiohub.org.
Quantitative phase and polarization imaging (QLIPP):#
Combining the Z-stage and the PolScope components listed above enables joint phase and polarization imaging with waveorder.