We're happy to interview Pierre Tchoulfian, CTO of Aledia, as part of our series of interviews with MicroLED Industry Association members. France based Aledia, leading the next-generation displays with its 3D silicon nanowire–based microLED technology, designed to dramatically lower production costs. Backed by over €360 million in funding, Aledia is expanding production with its FlexiNOVA epiwafer platform and a planned €140 million fab. With more than 250 patent families, the company is advancing both large-display and next-generation AR microLED platforms.
Pierre is a recognized MicroLED innovator with 14+ years advancing technology and product development, shaping next-generation display solutions with over 10 patents and numerous publications.
Can you introduce your company and technology?
Aledia is a deep-tech company at the forefront of display innovation, focused on redefining what’s possible with microLED technology. We were founded in 2011 out of CEA-Leti research labs and are headquartered in Grenoble, in the heart of Europe’s “Display Valley.”
Our proprietary approach is based on growing 3D gallium nitride nanowires on standard silicon wafers, which unlocks significant advantages over conventional 2D microLEDs. This platform delivers ultra-bright, energy-efficient, and highly scalable solutions, designed to meet the demands of next-generation applications like augmented reality, automotive, wearables, and consumer electronics.
Can you say why you joined the MicroLED Association and what you hope to
achieve?
The MicroLED Association brings together key players who are driving innovation and adoption across the industry, and we believe collaboration is critical at this stage of microLED commercialization. By joining, we aim to contribute our experience developing 3D nanowire technology and help accelerate solutions to the technical and manufacturing challenges that affect the entire ecosystem.
For Aledia, it is also an opportunity to learn from peers and align on best practices, roadmaps, and industry standards that will shape the future of displays. As the market moves toward mass adoption, sharing insights and working collectively helps us all bring products to consumers faster and with greater impact.
What is your biggest challenge, and success to date in the microLED industry?
One of the biggest challenges in microLED has always been balancing performance, manufacturability, and cost at scale. Creating displays that deliver exceptional brightness and efficiency while being small enough for devices like AR glasses has historically required complex and expensive processes that have slowed mass adoption. Overcoming these hurdles has been a central focus for Aledia from day one.
Our greatest success so far has been proving that our 3D nanowire approach can deliver both performance and scalability. By growing GaN nanowires on standard silicon wafers, we have achieved ultra-small, high-efficiency microLED chips that can be produced at industrial scale. With our pilot production line fully operational in Grenoble, we have reached a critical point where we can supply customers with technology that meets their most ambitious product requirements.
EQE performance achieved down to 3.5μm diameter chip for blue color
Can you detail your latest prototype/demonstration?
At Display Week 2025, we showcased FlexiNOVA, our newest microLED platform designed to make mass production truly viable for the first time. FlexiNOVA introduces a customizable chip format that allows manufacturers to tailor size, shape, and power requirements based on their product needs without sacrificing performance. This flexibility is critical for enabling integration into a wide range of devices, from smartwatches to automotive displays and next-generation monitors.
Alongside FlexiNOVA, we’re advancing a second key innovation: a native RGB microdisplay purpose-built for AR. This display uses our proprietary 3D nanowire microLEDs to grow red, green, and blue light on the same chip, enabling highly efficient, high-brightness output from an ultra-compact form factor. By emitting all three colors natively from native grown GaN on Silicon nanowires, this design eliminates the need for color conversion or multiple layers structure—reducing size, improving efficiency, and making it easier to integrate into waveguide-based AR glasses. With this breakthrough, Aledia is unlocking a new generation of displays that are optimized for spatial computing, assistive vision, and other AI-powered AR applications.
SEM View of a Native RGB pixel grown in a single Epitaxy run from GaN on
Silicon Nanowires.
Red, Green, and Blue Native color emission microLEDs demonstrated at
Display Week 2025
How do you see microLEDs changing the display industry in the next 5–10 years?
MicroLED is on track to transform displays across nearly every category. Over the next decade, we expect it to become the dominant technology for applications where brightness, efficiency, and visual quality are critical. This includes AR and mixed-reality headsets, where ultra-small, power-efficient displays are necessary to enable comfortable, lightweight devices that deliver truly immersive experiences.
Beyond AR, we see microLED adoption accelerating in smartwatches, smartphones, automotive dashboards, and large-format displays as production costs continue to come down. The combination of improved energy efficiency, sharper image quality, and longer device lifetimes will set a new standard for consumers and manufacturers alike. Aledia’s role is to ensure that this transition happens quickly and at scale by enabling high-performance microLEDs that are ready for industrial deployment.
Thank you Pierre, good luck to you and Aledia!