He is widely known for the Michel-L�vy interference colour chart, which defines the interference colors from different orders of birefringence.
2.
With this design ( marketed by E . Leitz ) 60 mm beam separation was achieved in microscopy but here the new difficulty has arisen of balancing optical thicknesses of two separate microscope slide preparations ( sample and dummy ) and maintaining this critical balance during longer observations ( e . g . time-lapse studies of living cells maintained at 37 �C ), otherwise a gradual change in background interference colour occurs over time.