​Current screens generally rely on two major technological innovations, LCD and OLED displays. “Both technologies are mature, but have a number of drawbacks," observed Jeannet Bernard, Key Account Manager at CEA-Leti. 

“For example, LCDs involve lighting up the entire panel (glass plate), and filtering the light, which consumes a significant amount of energy.Although this isn't the case for OLEDs, they have a reduced luminosity and service life when used at high brightness levels."

MicroLEDs offer a new solution. This technology uses a multitude of tiny LEDs which emit light and form pixels in the display device. What's more, they feature improved energy efficiency, greater luminosity, a longer service life when compared with competing technologies, and the ability to develop transparent or flexible screens.

3D GaN nanowires on a silicon substrate

These microLEDs are core to the activities of Aledia, a CEA-Leti spin-off start-up, and with whom it has kept a strong tie since 2012. “From its inception, Aledia launched a joint laboratory with CEA-Leti, resulting in the company's innovations in the field of microLEDs," highlighted Sébastien Dauvé, CEA-Leti CEO. “CEA research on this technology actually began as early as 2006, at the Institut de recherche interdisciplinaire de Grenoble (CEA-Irig). It's a good example of our lab-to-market support, which covers everything from fundamental research to industrial production, and, in our case, serves the reindustrialization of Europe."

This is how Aledia came to open a factory in Champagnier (Isère department) in 2021. A production site devoted to the company's proprietary technology: each microLED comprises a 3D gallium nitride (GaN) nanowire, a specificity that offers many advantages in terms of luminosity, energy efficiency, pixel density, and operating voltage.

These nanowires are produced by “epitaxy," a very precise process which involves growing them at the atomic level, one layer at a time. It is a procedure that is carried out on a silicon substrate, a less costly material than sapphires generally used for manufacturing microLEDs, with a diameter that will ultimately reach up to 300 mm.

FlexiNova: an industrial high voltage microLED production platform

In January 2026, Aledia's technology reached a milestone, and announced the launch of the FlexiNova platform. 

“We can now produce high-volume microLEDs from 3D GaN nanowires, with great flexibility, both in terms of sizing and of component design," said Aledia CEO, Pierre Laboisse, delighted. “This constitutes a world first and the culmination of many years of joint work with CEA-Leti."

Additionally, components can operate at 3 V or 6 V – and very soon, at 9 V –, making them very easy to integrate them into TFT (Thin Film Transistor) screens, technology that is essential for producing screens, and currently mostly produced in Asia.

Aledia now intends to accelerate the marketing of FlexiNova products, and to expand the platform's provision. 

15x30 µm² 6V FlexiNOVA microLEDs assembled on a 400 µm pitch backplane

Read an interview with Félix Marchal, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at Aledia, on the future of microLED technology and its place on the screen market of tomorrow and after tomorrow.​