Metalenz and UMC Bring Breakthrough Face Authentication Solution Polar ID to Mass Production
- The direct integration of Metalenz technology onto image sensors at the semiconductor foundry marks a new frontier for machine vision and artificial intelligence.
- Supply chain qualification and 300 mm wafer manufacturing at UMC enables rapid ramp to meet OEM demand.
- Breakthrough polarization-based face authentication technology ready for high-volume manufacturing, enabling secure, compact, and cost-effective biometrics for the mass market.
BOSTON and HSINCHU, Taiwan, Nov. 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Metalenz, the leader in metasurface innovation and commercialization, and United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC, TWSW:2303)), a leading global semiconductor foundry, today announced Metalenz's its breakthrough face authentication solution, Polar ID, is now ready for mass production through UMC.
Polar ID is a compact, polarization-based biometric solution that leverages Metalenz's metasurface technology to bring payment-grade security and advanced sensing capabilities to any device, even the most challenging of form factors. Using a polarization sensitive meta-optic and advanced algorithms, Polar ID extracts additional information sets such as material and contour information to provide secure face authentication in a single image, dramatically reducing cost and complexity over existing secure face unlock solutions.
Metalenz has already demonstrated the product, featuring a polarization sensitive meta-optic directly integrated onto an image sensor, on a smartphone reference platform powered by Snapdragon® mobile processors. UMC manufactures the meta-optic layer using its 40nm process and achieves sensor integration utilizing its wafer-on-wafer bonding technology. Leveraging UMC's 300mm wafer manufacturing capabilities, as well as the qualification of this supply chain, Metalenz is ready to ramp into volume positioning Polar ID for widespread adoption across consumer electronics, mobile, and IoT platforms.
"By combining our metasurface innovation with UMC's manufacturing scale and process maturity, Polar ID is ready to meet the demands of high-volume consumer electronics, and to bring secure, affordable face authentication to billions of devices," said Rob Devlin, CEO and Co-Founder of Metalenz. "Metalenz is the critical enabler of the metasurface market. With the first generation of our technology already at work in the market replacing lens stacks in existing sensing solutions, we are now leveraging the unique capabilities of our technology to bring new forms of sensing to mass markets for the first time. With demand for secure and convenient biometrics rapidly expanding across consumer devices and IoT, Polar ID delivers secure face authentication in the smallest, simplest form factor, making advanced sensing accessible beyond premium tiers and in places it wasn't previously possible."
"Our state-of-the art 12-inch facilities and comprehensive portfolio of semiconductor manufacturing process technologies have made us the foundry partner of choice for some of the most advanced fabless semiconductor companies in the world. We have worked with Metalenz on commercializing their metasurface technology since 2021, and we are pleased to be their key manufacturing partner to support the high-volume production of next-generation polarization imaging modules," said Steven Hsu, Vice President of Technology Development, UMC. "This collaboration will enable UMC to expand our offering into sensor integrated metasurfaces and play a pioneering role in delivering this disruptive imaging technology to market."
About Metalenz
Metalenz is driving innovation in optics with metasurface technology, providing image sensing solutions that deliver unprecedented insights to mass market machine vision, enabling advanced sensing and transformative applications to proliferate where compact size & cost-efficient integration is a must for widespread adoption. As the leaders in commercialization, Metalenz innovation has enabled the shift of optics production into the semiconductor foundry, leveraging existing infrastructure and proven manufacturing processes. More than 140 million of the company's optics have been integrated into consumer devices, replacing conventional lens stacks for compact 3D sensing and resulting in the creation of a rapidly growing metasurface market as use cases rapidly expand. metalenz.com
About UMC
UMC (NYSE:UMC, TWSE: 2303)) is a leading global semiconductor foundry company. The company provides high-quality IC fabrication services, focusing on logic and various specialty technologies to serve all major sectors of the electronics industry. UMC's comprehensive IC processing technologies and manufacturing solutions include Logic/Mixed-Signal, embedded High-Voltage, embedded Non-Volatile-Memory, RFSOI, BCD etc. Most of UMC's 12-in and 8-in fabs with its core R&D are located in Taiwan, with additional ones throughout Asia. UMC has a total of 12 fabs in production with combined capacity of more than 400,000 wafers per month (12-in equivalent), and all of them are certified with IATF 16949 automotive quality standard. UMC is headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, plus local offices in United States, Europe, China, Japan, Korea & Singapore, with a worldwide total of 20,000 employees. For more information, please visit: http://www.umc.com.
Note from UMC Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements in the foregoing announcement are forward-looking within the meaning of the U.S. Federal Securities laws, including statements about introduction of new services and technologies, future outsourcing, competition, wafer capacity, business relationships and market conditions. Investors are cautioned that actual events and results could differ materially from these statements as a result of a variety of factors, including conditions in the overall semiconductor market and economy; acceptance and demand for products from UMC; and technological and development risks. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in UMC's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. UMC does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.
Media Contact
Carly Glovinski
Senior Marketing Manager, Metalenz
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Michelle Yun
Corporate Communications, UMC
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