Micledi creates microLED arrays for AR based on 300mm CMOS platform

15 Dec 2021

Microdisplay firms’s latest product achieves highest brightness, resolution, and quality, with a low power module design.

MicroLED arrays for AR built on a 300mm CMOS manufacturing platform.

Micledi Microdisplays, a Leuven, Belgium-based developer of microLED displays for high-end augmented reality (AR) glasses, has demonstrated the industry’s first microLED arrays-for-AR built on a 300mm CMOS manufacturing platform.

The unparalleled manufacturing precision, performance and cost-efficiency offered by the 300mm product strategy distinguishes MICLEDI as a display partner of choice for AR glasses manufacturers.

Micledi stated that its solution is “uniquely positioned to address the needs of future AR glasses in terms of the display size, resolution, brightness, image quality, power consumption and cost.”

The technology’s particular perfromance rests on the following attributes:

CMOS-fab compatible, RGB epitaxial materials reconstituted on 300mm CMOS wafers, co-integrated with advanced node CMOS backplane ASICs via W2W hybrid bonding.
Pixel-level Fresnel lens beam shaping for high-efficiency waveguide integration.
MicroLED technology tailored for industry-standard tooling and process steps available for volume manufacturing at CMOS foundries.

Micledi is a spin-off of imec, a leading research and innovation hub in nano-electronics and digital technologies. The company leveraged imec’s extensive background in 3D integration technologies and a unique access to the world-class 300mm CMOS pilot-line infrastructure for the microLED development and prototyping.

Packaged microLED dies with test arrays.

Next-gen AR glasses

AR headsets today are heavy and bulky, image realism is poor, resolution is low, and headsets are costly. Nearly every leading technology company is investing in AR to drive the future of their consumer offerings and microLED displays are a mission-critical component.

According to industry analyst firm Yole Développement, the demand for microdisplays in AR headsets is projected to grow at CAGR >100%, rising to more than $1.8B in 2025 and more than $4.9B in 2027.

According to Sean Lord, CEO of Micledi, “AR headsets today can be found in industrial and medical niche markets. We intend to change that by enabling AR glasses that are stylish, compact, lightweight, with long battery life, and images that look just like reality. The Holy Grail in AR glasses.

“Our 300mm manufacturing flow is the technology needed to overcome the challenges with first- and second-generation AR glasses and is necessary to achieve the features consumers will require for the ultimate visually immersive AR experience.”

CES 2022

Next month, at CES 2022 in Las Vegas, will mark Micledi’s first availability of demonstration units. “It is only fitting that CES is the venue to showcase our remarkable achievement,” added Lord. “CES is where advanced technologies take center stage for all the world to see and AR is one area that is in rapid adoption with leaders from FAANG companies and a plethora of smaller innovators.”

Micledi plans to sample the new microLEDs to customers beginning in Q12022.