Ceres Opens New Facility and Strengthens Partnership

At the opening of its new digital mastering and replication facility, Ceres Holographics and Covestro confirmed that the two companies have deepened their collaboration around Ceres’ HoloFlekt® films for automotive display solutions.

Ceres-finished HoloFlekt films are used in breakthrough holographic optical element (HOE)-enabled display solutions across automotive and other markets such as aviation, and public transport. The joint works will focus on the customisation of Covestro's Bayfol® HX photopolymer together with the Ceres mastering and replication technology that enables production of the finished HoloFlekt functional films.

This coincides with the installation and commissioning of Ceres’ roll-to-roll (R2R) replication technology that allows, for the first time, a production demonstration of its manufacturing technology and production process to produce full size HoloFlekt films. The industrialised, full-scale replication technology was installed at a purpose-built 8,000-square foot facility in Livingston, Scotland. At a development cost of £2 million over a three-year period, and with the aid of EU H2020 funding (£1.2 million), the R2R replication technology embodies the expertise of Covestro's Bayfol HX photopolymer, and Ceres accumulated 20+ years expertise in digital hologram mastering and replication.

About Ceres Holographics

Ceres Holographics is a leader in the design and manufacture of holograms and HOEs for next generation optical systems in Augmented Reality Head Up Displays (AR HUD), holographic Transparent Displays (TD), and holographic lighting solutions.

Founded in 2009, in St Andrews, Scotland, the company provides a full spectrum of system, hologram and HOE design as well as cost-effective, volume production of holographic-based solutions to OEMs and tier 1 suppliers in the automotive, transportation, aerospace, construction, agriculture, and commercial vehicle markets.

Extending a long-standing collaboration

Ceres and Covestro have a long history of collaboration, which has allowed Ceres to develop a unique expertise in the advanced Bayfol HX film. Bayfol HX film is a transparent thin film featuring a light-sensitive, self-developing photopolymer that is ideal for the production of highly efficient volume holograms for advanced light-guiding applications.

This partnership has already resulted in Ceres’ ability to develop core technology to produce a line of light guiding film solutions. Ceres’ end-to-end holographic system and HOE design capability allows the development of customer-specific holographic master designs that can then be reproduced as thousands of perfect replicas in large format HoloFlekt films, enabling OEMs and Tier Ones to implement custom TD and AR HUD solutions in next generation vehicles.

The future engineering collaboration will first focus on optimising the Bayfol HX film, and the HoloFlekt mastering and replication equipment to define the boundaries and range of possibilities for Ceres’ TD solution. The two companies will jointly work on meeting OEM application readiness requirements with regard to windshield displays, including system geometries, brightness, uniformity, clarity, and ease of integration.