Abstract: Optical multilayer interference tomography (OMLIT) is used in correlated light and electron microscopy to image a large field through an optical microscope, providing the navigation of the region of interest for later nanometer-resolution electron microscope imaging. In order to further improve the imaging contrast and positioning accuracy of thin film samples, a theoretical model combining polarization illumination and OMLIT is proposed. This model is written in the matrix formalism and the propagation of polarized light through different layers with various incident angles is simulated. The simulation results show that using the polarized light with an electric field oscillating parallel to the incidence plane (p-polarization) exhibits a much higher imaging contrast than the unpolarized light. Especially when the p-polarized light illuminates on an OMLIT sample, of which the first coating layer is Ag, with an incidence angle of 62°, the imaging contrast can be vastly enhanced by 138 times. The presented model provides a theoretical basis for polarization illumination OMLIT, pathing a new technical way for the development of the correlated light and electron microscopy technique.