The Microdisplays and Sensors business unit at the Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics, Electron Beam and Plasma Technology FEP will be integrated into our Fraunhofer Clusterpartner Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS with retroactive effect from January 1, 2024. Both institutes are closely connected, particularly within this business unit, and share infrastructure at the Dresden site. By pooling expertise and streamlining structures, we anticipate the creation of synergies that will strengthen the research field, expedite development and thus benefit customers and partners.
There is rapid development in the market for the microdisplays used in augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) applications (often collectively referred to as XR) and this will be an important growth market of the future. The integration of OLED and µLED frontplane technologies in CMOS backplanes is not only the key to success in this sector but also the technological basis for near-to-eye visualization of information. Fraunhofer IPMS and Fraunhofer FEP have now decided, in consultation with the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, to integrate the Fraunhofer FEP Microdisplays and Sensors business unit into Fraunhofer IPMS. Their goal is to leverage synergies in the area of infrastructure, pool expertise and establish a unique profile for both institutes. Fraunhofer IPMS has long been one of the leading institutes in microelectronics and microsystems engineering.
Fig. 1: The Microdisplays & Sensors business unit of Fraunhofer FEP, which will be integrated into Fraunhofer IPMS, develops OLED and µLED displays. (Copyright Claudia Jacquemin, 2024)
Over the past ten years, the Microdisplays and Sensors business unit has developed into a globally successful and established player under the umbrella of Fraunhofer FEP. At the current stage of development, the transfer to an institute specialized in microelectronics offers suitable conditions to further develop the business unit. This will also allow Fraunhofer FEP, as a process-oriented institute, to focus even more on its expertise in electron beam and plasma technology. This transfer provides technological solutions for the growing demand in the fields of energy, sustainability, life sciences and environmental technologies for industry and society — now and in the future.
Fig. 2: OLED microdisplay with a resolution of 1440 x 1080 pixels and the world's smallest pixels of 2.5 micrometers. (Copyright Claudia Jacquemin, 2024)
For more information visit our Clusterpartner website.