Polar Light Technologies is a spin out from Linkoping University in Sweden. They are developing bottom up nanoLEDs in a pyramidal shape. In their process, they first define seed areas in a silicon carbide substrate. GaN epi layers are grown only in these seed areas. This is designed to create a stress-reduced starting matrix. The grown pyramidal shaped emitters form the quantum wells on the facets and so are not c-plane emitting. This is a big benefit for red, Indium heavy wavelengths as c-plane devices struggle in the red.
At Photonics West in January 2026, the company announced the first demonstration of nano-scale emitters. At DisplayWeek, they were showcasing a functional monochrome green microLED display integrated onto a CMOS backplane. The pixel is 5 microns and is composed of a number of nanoLEDs. The display was 0.29-inch with VGA resolution. Luminance was quoted as 40K nits with power for the display and driver of under 1W. Availability is planned for the end of 2026.
In their bonding process, they flip the pyramid emitters over and align them with contact wells on the CMOS backplane, so light comes out the bottom of the pyramid. They hope to commercialize the display by the end of 2026 and market to the military for a head-mounted display. They also plan to soon announce a European-based semiconductor partner for a pilot line via a new €5 Million+ funding round.
Importantly, no etching is required so their approach can hopefully eliminate the drop in efficiency as the size of the microLED shrinks. Current device production is focused on developing emitters that are about 4 microns in size at their base. The pyramid is grown with a MOCVD process. They have demonstrated pyramid emitters as small as 430nm.
As for full color, the company says they have several ways to achieve that but not by adjusting the size of the structure. This remains an area of investigation.
a) Array of pyramidal InGaN/GaN structures b) Illustration of the integration between the LED front-plane with the Si/CMOS back-plane and c) the sub-Lambertian light-lobe from a green pyramidal micro-LED
