Real-time observation of birefringence by laser-scanning surface plasmon resonance microscope

A laser-scanning surface plasmon resonance microscope was used to observe the birefringence of an anisotropic sample in real-time. Since this system utilizes the resonance of the surface plasmon with incident light, it can measure the absolute value of the sample's refractive index with high sensitivity. In addition, this system can simultaneously measure the orientation of the birefringence. This system does not need any moving optical components, and it can thus obtain the refractive indices in real-time. Experimental results of observing birefringence changes in real-time ( video rate) are demonstrated. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America.