STMicroelectronics, a global leader in semiconductor solutions across a wide range of electronics applications, and Metalenz, the pioneer of metasurface optics, have announced a new licensing agreement aimed at expanding the deployment of advanced optical technologies across high-growth markets.
The expanded agreement grants ST broader rights to integrate and manufacture Metalenz’s patented metasurface optics using ST’s proprietary 300mm semiconductor-based optics platform. This strategic move reinforces ST’s position at the forefront of next-generation optical innovation, unlocking new opportunities in consumer electronics, industrial automation, and automotive sensing.
“STMicroelectronics is the unique supplier on the market offering a groundbreaking combination of optics and semiconductor technology. Since 2022, we have shipped well over 140 million metasurface optics and FlightSense™ modules using Metalenz IP. The new license agreement with Metalenz bolsters our technology leadership in consumer, industrial and automotive segments, and will enable new opportunities from smartphone applications like biometrics, LIDAR and camera assist, to robotics, gesture recognition, or object detection,” underlined Alexandre Balmefrezol, Executive Vice President and General Manager of STMicroelectronics’s Imaging Sub-Group. “Our unique model, processing optical technology in our 300mm semiconductor fab, ensures high precision, cost-effectiveness, and scalability to meet the requests of our customers for high-volume, complex applications.”
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The collaboration further establishes ST as a key manufacturing partner for Metalenz, allowing both companies to accelerate the commercialization of metasurface optics—flat, chip-integrated optical components that replace traditional complex lens assemblies. This semiconductor-based approach delivers significant size, weight, and performance advantages in sensing systems.
“Our agreement with STMicroelectronics has the potential to further fast-track the adoption of metasurfaces from their origins at Harvard to adoption by market leading consumer electronics companies,” said Rob Devlin, co-founder and CEO of Metalenz. “By enabling the shift of optics production into semiconductor manufacturing, this agreement has the possibility to further redefine the sensing ecosystem. As use cases for 3D sensing continue to expand, ST’s technology leadership in the market together with our IP leadership solidifies ST and Metalenz as the dominant forces in the emergent metasurface market we created.”