DVN was invited to SÜSS MicroOptics in scenic Neuchatel, Switzerland. CEO Reinhard Völkel with his team Christopher Bremer, Patrick Heissler, Wilfried Noell and Pascal Zwahlen gave DVN a very warm welcome; thank you!
Microoptics development and production is vastly different to classical car headlamp business. The production facility DVN had the opportunity to visit is wafer-based in class-1000 and -100 cleanrooms. The critical processes are metalising on glass; photolithography; plasma etching; lens imprinting; bonding; dicing; wafer-level testing, and other things exotic to the eyes of a car lighting guy. All the more surprising that nearly half of SÜSS’ microoptics business is already automotive.
Micro lens arrays (MLA) are used in the car for a projection, sharp at any distance, of graphics, symbols, or light carpets beside the car, as a greeting and orientation function. First application was in a BMW 7 series.
Another even more interesting application is front lighting. MLAs are used, for example, in the headlamps of the Lucid Air and Genesis G90. MLA are one of a few solutions to create super slim headlamps down to 10 mm lens height. Advantages are the precise light, the tiny lit surface, and the small overall package. Disadvantages up to now were low efficiency and high price. Both are actively addressed by SÜSS MicroOptics‘ manufacturing roadmap.
We see a clear design trend in the direction of invisible or at least hidden headlamps. One solution is using a very “loud” DRL/position light and hiding the main functions below in a dark environment. Next radical design step is reducing the main functions to get rid of the hidden elements which are diminished, but of course still visible. Until now, tier-1 suppliers could reduce the size of their LED modules by better LEDs, more efficient thermal management, and smaller lenses to meet the designers’ demands. But as the trend goes into the extreme, new concepts are unavoidable. MLAs are a solution for such extreme design. DVN thinks it is dangerous for any tier-1 to ignore this technology, even if the business cases of the car makers don’t (yet) allow MLA.
Conclusion: No doubt, microoptics has the potential to become a revolution in vehicle lighting technology.