George F.

Vander Voort
Buehler Ltd
Lake Bluff, IL 60044 USA
 A) Amplitude – light intensity; B) Wavelength – color; C)
Phase displacement; D) Polarization – one plane of vibration
Part of the incident light ray is reflected and part is
refracted; the angle of reflection equals the angle of
incidence, i.e., = .
 NA = n sin
NA is a measure of the objective’s light gathering capacity
 Resolution, d = 0.5 /NA

Depth of Focus = (n2-NA2)0.5/2NA2

Where d is the smallest resolvable distance

between two parallel lines and is the
wavelength of light.
 Sodium, 589 nm

Green, 546 nm

Blue, 436 nm

Index of Refraction = 1.0

Key to bright field imaging
Polaroid Filters Only Berek Pre-polarizer Added

Ahrens Prism Polarizer

Berek + Ahrens
 Cu – 30% Zn
Fully Annealed
Excessive Relief
from Polishing
 100 µm

Bright Field Nomarski DIC

Annealing twins in the alpha-Cu phase can be seen in Nomarski DIC due
to polishing relief that is not visible in bright field (Klemm’s I)
Cu – 11.8% Al Water Quenched from 900 °C

Bright Field Dark Field

Polarized Light As Polished Nomarski DIC

Bright Field Dark Field

Waspaloy
Solution Annealed
and Double Aged

Nomarski DIC
Bright Field Dark Field

As-cast Cu –
8.4% P eutectic
structure
Normarski DIC
 Carburized 8620 – Lower Bainite Case/Lath Martensite Core
Bainitic Case

Bright Field Polarized Light + Sensitive Tint

Microstructure of the case of carburized (0.95% C potential) 8620 alloy steel. It was
carburized at 1750 °F, then quenched into a 50/50 mix of sodium nitrite and potassium
nitrate at 480 °F and held 120 minutes. It was air cooled and then tempered at 480 °F for
240 minutes to an aim case hardness of 52-60 HRC (etched with 10% sodium metabisulfite).
The lower bainite case performs better under low-cycle fatigue conditions.
Carburized 8620 – Lower Bainite Case/Lath Martensite Core

Lath Martensite Core

Bright Field Polarized Light + Sensitive Tint

Lath martensitic core structure, with some ferritic areas, revealed using
10% sodium metabisulfite.
 Nitinol (Ni – 50% Ti)

Bright Field Nomarski DIC

Martensite in Nitinol revealed by etching with equal parts of HNO3, acetic acid
and HF. Nomarski DIC reveals extra detail compared to bright field.
 20 µm
20 µm

Bright Field Nomarski DIC

Nomarski DIC reveals the surface topography better than bright field.
Non-uniform illumination and dirt in the light path (circled areas) make
this micrograph (sintered carbide at 1000x) far from desirable.