Plastic plates are made in one step by an injection moulding process, whereas quartz is made in many individual steps – grinding, polishing, boring and fusing. This allows modification for special purposes. For example, the base thickness can be reduced to as low as 0.5 mm while maintaining the highest optical quality. A further reduction to the cover slip thickness to 0.17 mm is possible, in any case, only when combined with a smaller well diameter of about 3 mm. The upper part of the microplate can be manufactured from black quartz for special use in fluorescence applications.