Manufacturing

Made for the consumer market

Our waveguide technology was designed from the outset with mass manufacture in mind. Our structures are technically sophisticated, but physically simple, which makes manufacturing using standard nano-imprinting methods possible.

Mass Manufacturing of Diffractive Waveguides

WaveOptics has designed a simple manufacturing process, which enables our waveguides to be mass produced at low cost. We use standard, high volume capable tools to ensure that low-cost, high yield manufacture is possible. Our dedicated manufacturing line is situated at Goertek’s state of the art facility in Weifang, China where we have WaveOptics team members on site to support.

1

Nanoimprinting Lithography

Mass production of waveguides on glass wafers

2

Optical Coating

Optical coatings are deposited on the wafers

3

Laser Cutting

Individual waveguides are cut from the wafers

4

Assembly

Individual waveguides are aligned and fixed together

5

Edge Blackening

Tinted to enhance image quality

6

Characterisation

All waveguide assemblies are tested for accuracy and optical performance

Our Manufacturing Partners

WaveOptics has a number of long term strategic partners which enables us to secure our supply chain.
These include but are not limited to the following:

Manufacturing of Projectors

Projectors are critical to the performance of the overall AR system. We have designed our projectors to be compact and efficient. We believe that by taking control of this critical component we can guarantee the supply and performance of the AR system. Our in-house capabilities have allowed us to create a range of DMD, LCoS and Micro-LED based projectors to complement and enhance our waveguide portfolio.

1

Assemble lens barrel

Optical components assembled into housing

2

Assemble projector body

LEDs, optical components and DMD/LCoS aligned and assembled into main body

3

Attach barrel to projector body

Barrel assembly aligned and focused to projector image

4

Test and inspect

All projector assemblies tested for optical performance

Prototyping Facility

We have installed a dedicated UK based prototype facility.

It has a waveguide assembly line, that includes waveguide stacking, edge blackening & testing. There is dedicated space for projector assembly and optical engine assembly, where we are able to test out designs and prototypes.  This helps speed up the product design process for WaveOptics standard products, as well as customer projects.

The secure facility will also be used for training our contract manufacturing and ODM partners. The facility is a unique space where our partners can learn quickly how best to build and align WaveOptics’ optical engines. This will enable the transfer of this skill set into our partners’ own manufacturing environments.

The prototyping facility also has additional dedicated lab space to support our R&D efforts, focused particularly on new technologies.

State of the art equipment enables our teams to rapidly evaluate and test new R&D approaches.

Manufacturing of Optical Engines

1

Attach projector to chassis

Projectors attached to headset frame

2

Attach waveguide to chassis

Optical waveguides aligned to projector image

3

Test and inspect

Test and inspect