Founded in 2007, the world’s second largest manufacturer of high-resolution microscreens with very low energy consumption set up shop in 2009 at BHT1, where nearly one million screens have been manufactured.
Since 2020, the company has also had premises at BHT2, where it deploys turnkey solutions in the field of augmented reality glasses.
You’ve had your core business at BHT1 for 12 years now… What exactly do you do there?
«Yes, at the BHT1 we carry out the successive coating of the OLED materials on the wafers. The specific OLED technology that Microoled has developed gives the screens an exceptional pixel density. Depending on the application, this advantage is exploited to optimise the image quality (resolution, contrast, brightness, colour rendering, etc.) or to reduce costs for equivalent quality. Quality control is also carried out at the BHT1. As our business is constantly growing, we have expanded!
Today, we have a 150 m2 clean room, a 100 m2 grey room and 300 m2 of offices at BHT1.»
I believe you also have premises at BHT2 since December 2020?
«That’s right, we have a clean room, a grey room as well as an R&D laboratory and offices there. We needed more space for our research on augmented reality activities and to install a pilot production line for optical modules. At BHT2, we go beyond micro-screens. We are developing technological solutions that start with the customer’s usage, allowing us to move up the value chain and win new markets.
Our first partnership with the Jura-based eyewear manufacturer Julbo, which markets outdoor sports glasses incorporating our ActiveLook® technology, has been a success. We are now looking to set up other collaborations, particularly for export.
To roll out these projects, we needed space for our new equipment and for our growing team of staff. Microoled now has 80 employees and we are still hiring!»
What are the advantages of these facilities at MINATEC ENTREPRISES?
«First of all, I would say that renting is the ideal solution for us, because it allows us to focus our energy on our core business. In addition, these premises meet our needs perfectly: at both BHT1 and BHT2, our technical requirements are all met, even though they are very high (very heavy machines) and we cannot tolerate any vibrations. We then have complete confidence in the MINATEC ENTREPRISES team, which is competent and responsive. Over the years, we have always been satisfied with the management of the development work, both technically and in terms of planning. Even in 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, the work schedule at BHT2 was completed on time! The third major advantage is the proximity to the CEA. Microoled is still very close to Leti (with whom we have created a common laboratory and whose patents we use under exclusive licence) and this proximity is precious! »
