Quartz Crystal Optical Wedge

The quartz crystal optical wedge is a simple technique to aid in specimen identification by inducing a color gradient in a polarizing microscope. The wedge is made from a crystalline block of quartz cut into a wedge angle so that the optical axis of the quartz is oriented either parallel or perpendicular to the edge of the birefringent crystal. A typical quartz wedge is useful for measurements of petrographic specimens (rock and mineral thin sections) or other birefringent materials. The quartz wedge compensator is also employed for the determining the direction of anisotropy (crystalline fast and slow axes orientation) in birefringent specimens.

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Filename: K17pol-quartzwedge_4688.jpg
Copyright: Ted Kinsman / Science Source Inc.
Image Size: 3912x2608 / 1.6MB; quartz wedge polarizing microscope crystalline optical axis birefringent petrographic rock mineral anisotropy orientation microscopy optics physics crystal light color
Contained in galleries: science

The quartz crystal optical wedge is a simple technique to aid in specimen identification by inducing a color gradient in a polarizing microscope. The wedge is made from a crystalline block of quartz cut into a wedge angle so that the optical axis of the quartz is oriented either parallel or perpendicular to the edge of the birefringent crystal. A typical quartz wedge is useful for measurements of petrographic specimens (rock and mineral thin sections) or other birefringent materials. The quartz wedge compensator is also employed for the determining the direction of anisotropy (crystalline fast and slow axes orientation) in birefringent specimens.