Myrias Optics, Pixelligent Announce Strategic Manufacturing Partnership

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Myrias Optics, a pioneering manufacturer of flat optics , and Pixelligent Technologies LLC, the leading manufacturer of high refractive index (RI) nanocomposites for next-gen electronics, announced that they have entered into a strategic manufacturing partnership. Myrias specializes in the design, development, and manufacturing of wafer level optics. These include metalenses and AR waveguides using direct nanoimprint lithography of nanoparticle composites to produce all-inorganic, thermally stable, and high optical density structures - with ultra-high refractive index, minimal haze, and maximum transparency. This combination of material and process, together with Pixelligent's high-index materials, offers an unparalleled balance of cost and performance. This is ideal for high-level applications in datacom, consumer electronics, AR/VR, and machine vision systems.

The Companies have been working in collaboration prior to the Myrias Optics successful spinout from The Watkins Research Lab at UMass Amherst in 2023. The Myrias materials platform leverages Pixelligent's - PixClear high-index materials to produce fully inorganic metalenses that achieve refractive indices of up to 2.3, with >95% transparency, achieving minimal haze. This combination also ensures UV stability.

Under the manufacturing partnership, Myrias will leverage Pixelligent's best-in-class PixClear nanocrystals and its proprietary, highly efficient, and ISO-qualified manufacturing process to produce its metalens formulations.

"We've been partnering with Jim and his world-class polymer science lab at UMass Amherst for the past 15-years. Jim is widely known as one of the "founding fathers" of nanoimprint lithography applications, and we couldn't be more excited to support Myrias as their manufacturing partner to help bring their groundbreaking Metalens products to market," said Craig Bandes, CEO Pixelligent Technologies.

The metalenses market is expected to grow from roughly $41.8 million in 2024 to between $1.5 - $2.4 billion by 2031 (Metastat, Valueates), with a CAGR of up to 79.5%. This explosive growth is driven by the demand for miniaturized, high-performance optical devices across numerous industries. The markets driving this growth include Consumer Electronics, Extended Reality, Optical Communications, Autonomous Driving, Medical Devices, and Aerospace. Beyond the performance benefits, the ability to use a nanoimprint lithography process for mass production manufacturing creates significant cost and yield advantages when compared to traditional photolithography processes. By some estimates, the cost advantages are as great as 10:1.

"Pixelligent, long recognized as the industry leader in nanoimprint materials, has been an invaluable partner to Myrias since our inception. We are delighted to formalize our long-standing collaboration through this partnership agreement as we scale our wafer-level optics manufacturing capabilities. Together with Pixelligent, we look forward to transforming the optics industry and unlocking the vast market opportunities ahead," said John Fijol, CEO of Myrias Optics.