SPD smart film is going back into production. Gauzy, the Israeli company that makes it, settled about $61 million of old debt with court approval effective September 8, 2026, and Research Frontiers, which owns the technology, said on September 18 that money is now flowing to restart film production in Germany and the emulsion it's made from in Israel. Before the news, some history, because this film has a longer story than most.
A 1934 idea
SPD stands for suspended particle device. Tiny rod-shaped particles float in a thin liquid layer between two sheets. With no power they tumble at random and block light, so the glass looks dark. Switch the power on and they line up, the glass clears, and you can stop anywhere in between. That's what sets SPD apart from the privacy film most people have seen, which only switches between frosted and clear. The idea is older than window film itself: Edwin Land, who went on to found Polaroid, filed a patent for a "light valve" built on exactly this principle in 1932, and it was granted on April 24, 1934.
Turning it into a product took most of a century. Research Frontiers, founded in Woodbury, New York, in October 1965 by Robert Saxe to develop Polaroid's light-control ideas, spent decades on the chemistry and holds the SPD patents. It never built a factory. It licenses the technology to companies that make the film and the glass, and by its own filings it runs on six full-time employees. Saxe, whom his company called the father of the smart window industry, died in 2016 at 81.
The first car to carry SPD in series production was the Mercedes-Benz SLK, unveiled on January 29, 2011, with a roof Mercedes named Magic Sky Control. The film came from Hitachi Chemical under a Research Frontiers licence, and Mercedes said the roof kept the cabin up to 10°C (18°F) cooler than ordinary glass. The option spread to the SL, the S-Class and the Maybach. For how ordinary film handles heat and light, see how window film works.
Enter Gauzy
Gauzy was founded in Tel Aviv in 2009 by Eyal Peso and Adrian Lofer, first around PDLC privacy film and later as the licensed maker of SPD film, which it produces near Stuttgart from particles made in Israel. In 2022 it bought Vision Systems, a French maker of window shading for aircraft and trains. It listed on Nasdaq in June 2024, raising about $75 million at $17 a share, on 2023 revenue of $78 million and a net loss of $79 million. Ferrari chose it as a supplier, and at Auto Shanghai in 2025 about three-quarters of the glass on Mercedes' Vision V show car was Gauzy-made SPD. Then the debts caught up with it.
What happened in September
- The debt deal. The Tel Aviv-Jaffa District Court approved Gauzy's settlement after creditors holding 98.96% of voting claims backed it, including all of its secured lenders. A $7 million equity investment led by Gauzy's CEO comes with it, Gauzy said.
- Production. Research Frontiers says the restart also lets work move ahead on black SPD film and on products for retrofitting existing buildings.
- Still unsettled. Gauzy's French subsidiaries remain in court-supervised reorganization, and Nasdaq told Gauzy on September 15, 2026 that it plans to delist the shares. Gauzy says it will appeal, and the shares stay listed while it does.
What it means for you
If you're a car owner, nothing changes today: SPD comes built into the glass by the carmaker, not as a film a tint shop applies. For homes and offices, SPD is still a specialist product sold through glass and smart-glass companies, and a retrofit version isn't on sale that we could find. If you've been quoted SPD glass for a project, ask your supplier about lead times; neither company has given a production date.
For the trade, the story is a reminder of how thin the supply chain behind a clever product can be. The only dimmable film of its kind runs through one licensor with six staff and one maker working its way out of debt. That's how much of this industry has always worked: a few small companies carrying an idea for decades until a carmaker picks it up.
What isn't confirmed
Neither release says when film will ship again, in what volume, or when the retrofit products will be ready. Both come from the companies involved, and Research Frontiers earns licensing fees from Gauzy. We'll update this post when there's a date.
Sources
- Gauzy: court-approved resolution of legacy debt (September 18, 2026)
- Research Frontiers: restart of SPD-Smart light control film production (September 18, 2026)
- Gauzy, SEC Form 6-K: Nasdaq delisting notice and appeal (September 21, 2026)
- US Patent 1,955,923, Edwin H. Land, "Light valve and method of operation" (filed August 11, 1932; granted April 24, 1934)
- Research Frontiers on the death of its founder Robert L. Saxe (June 30, 2016)
- Research Frontiers' SEC filings (employee count and licensing model)
- Research Frontiers photo release: Mercedes-Benz Magic Sky Control SPD-SmartGlass roof (2011)
- Globes: Israeli smart glass co Gauzy files for Nasdaq IPO (April 21, 2024)
- IPOScoop: Gauzy prices IPO at $17.00 (June 2024)
- The Fly: Research Frontiers and Gauzy on the Mercedes-Benz Vision V's SPD glass (2025)
