PoLight readies MEMS lens actuator for mass production
“The funds will take us all the way into the global market” told us poLight’s newly appointed CEO Øyvind Isaksen, “helping us step up our manufacturing capacity and expand our organization with the opening of extra offices to get nearer our customers”.
Currently, the company is working with several potential customers and is ramping up manufacturing capacity in a cooperation with ST Microelectronics as a manufacturing partner, with volume production planned for the second half of 2015.
Assembled at wafer level, each 2.9×2.9mm TLens consists of a very thin piezo-actuator layer on top of a thin glass membrane that deforms a soft polymer sandwiched with a thicker layer of glass. By applying varying voltages (up to 30V), the piezo actuator forces the thin glass membrane to bend, deforming the polymer underneath it and varying the optical focus.
The TLens is claimed to be ten times faster than today’s widely used VCM (Voice Coil Motor) lenses, while drawing 20 times less power. These features make them very attractive as a replacement for bulkier VCM assemblies, also enabling fast consecutive multi-focus shots to implement full-focus photos in software.
Although Tlens currently rely on ST’s fab capacity, the company owns the full process IP and could easily second source its capacity.
“We see a huge expansion of the market for autofocus lenses”, said Isaksen, "Autofocus used to be reserved to back-facing cameras, now you also find it on front-facing smartphone cameras and across multiple cameras for stereo-imaging, all these represent new opportunities for poLight” he added.
The company has also developed a proof-of-concept for image stabilization, again with a very low power consumption, no inertia and no wobbling compared to multiple VCM assemblies.
Next step for poLight will be to become a public listed company. “We will probably do a pre-IPO by late 2015 or mid-2016 when we are in the market and are starting to generate revenue, an IPO could follow 12 months later”, said Isaksen.
One could establish a parallel with Wavelens, a French startup with similar performance claims for another MEMS-based lens technology using an oil-filled cavity instead of a polymer for the optical variation.
“The real competition now is VCMs, so there will be plenty of room for a couple of competitors” admitted Isaksen.
Visit poLight at www.polight.com
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