Micromirror LEAD®
Louisenthal (Germany)
Type: Optically variable foil stripe — full-height security foil combining micromirror and holographic structures in a single stripe, delivering compound 3D, movement and colour effects
Overview
Micromirror LEAD® is a specific configuration within Louisenthal's LEAD® foil family, launched in 2015 as a step-change evolution of the original 2004 Hologram LEAD®. In 2015, micromirror technology was added to the LEAD® hologram and set a new standard in security. Where the base LEAD® format uses holographic diffractive structures alone, Micromirror LEAD® integrates Louisenthal's proprietary micromirror engineering directly into the same full-height foil stripe alongside the holographic elements, producing a compound optical system with capabilities that neither technology achieves independently.
LEAD® itself stands for Long-lasting Economical Anticopy Device — a name reflecting the format's defining characteristics: durability in circulation, cost-effectiveness relative to the security level delivered, and strong counterfeit resilience. Micromirror LEAD® extends this proposition by adding the exceptional low-light visibility and vivid dynamic effects that only micromirror technology provides.
Technology & Effects
Micromirror LEAD® represents an integration of hologram and micromirror technologies, giving the LEAD® stripe the bright and dynamic micromirror effects with a colourful appearance. It is a complex combination of micro (holographic) and macro (mirror) structures — a technical challenge for origination, tool production, embossing and production of a modern and secure LEAD stripe.
The micromirror component uses a very high number of extremely small precisely shaped and arranged reflective surfaces. Micromirror technology uses a very high number of extremely small mirrors which are aligned and shaped in such a way that the collective impact of their reflections results in an image which seems to dynamically move when the banknote is tipped through different angles. It even enables 3D effects such as the sense of reliefs or the shifting and floating of objects. There are approximately four million micromirrors per square centimetre, each calculated and positioned by specialist software during origination.
The critical performance advantage over pure holographic LEAD® is behaviour in low light. Unlike holograms, the effects of micromirror technology are very clearly identifiable even in poor lighting, and achieve an outstanding degree of contrast and contour sharpness due to highly efficient light reflection. Holograms, on the other hand, are based on light diffraction, which results in a far more diffuse and darker-seeming image. This makes Micromirror LEAD® significantly more effective in the dim ambient lighting of retail environments, night-time transactions, or poorly illuminated cash handling conditions.
The holographic structures within the same stripe add traditional diffractive colour spectrum effects — rainbow colour shifts and optically variable image elements — that complement the micromirror dynamics. The integrated interface of hologram and micromirror technologies combines a traditional hologram with a micromirror feature incorporating dynamic light, colour and 3D effects, and this device is said to be nearly impossible to counterfeit. Optional UV-fluorescent properties can be incorporated, creating a Level 2 teller dimension where the lighthouse gleams under an ultraviolet lamp, interconnecting the foil and printed elements. Bi-metallic effects — gold tones complementing aluminium elements — and ultra-fine precision demetallisation are available for design customisation.
Form Factors & Application
Micromirror LEAD® is a full-height foil stripe, running the complete vertical dimension of the banknote, applied using hot-stamping foil application equipment at the banknote printing works. It is compatible with all banknote substrates — cotton paper, Hybrid™, Hybrid ADDvance®, and polymer — making it substrate-agnostic and available for the full range of printing works that supply Louisenthal. The IHMA award-winning Micromirror LEAD® stripe was demonstrated on Louisenthal's Hybrid ADDvance® house note series at a width of only 10mm, illustrating that compact stripe widths can still deliver a high-impact compound micromirror-plus-hologram effect.
Security Levels
Micromirror LEAD® operates at Level 1 (public). The dynamic movement and 3D depth effects of the micromirror component are immediately visible under normal ambient lighting including low-light conditions, while the holographic colour variation adds additional overt complexity. The compound production architecture — requiring both micromirror origination (which involves specialist software, multi-stage electroforming, and proprietary embossing tools) and holographic origination within the same foil — makes simulation with commercially available materials effectively impossible. Optional UV additions extend to Level 2.
Notable Deployments
Micromirror LEAD® won the IHMA Best Applied Security Product award in 2020. The Armenian 500 dram commemorative note from G+D was the first circulating note to feature a RollingStar® LEAD security foil — an excellent example of the benefits RollingStar® technologies, including micromirrors and colour shift, offer for foil elements. The Malawi 5,000 kwacha won Best New Banknote in 2022 with LEAD foil and Galaxy® security thread. Louisenthal does not publicly disclose the full list of central bank deployments by product name, but the company states that over 40 denominations with micromirror foils are in circulation or in production.
- Name
- Micromirror LEAD®
- Category
- Security Feature
- Effect Types
- Diffractive Micro-mirrors
- Company
- Product Page
- View on Supplier Site
- Linked Features
- 1 security feature