Scottish spinout targets step change in photonics manufacturing

A new Heriot-Watt University spinout is aiming to transform the manufacture of photonic components through a laser-based process designed to reduce cost, improve precision and make production easier to scale. FreeForm Photonics is commercialising a novel method that builds alignment directly into optical glass components, addressing a long-standing bottleneck in photonics manufacturing.

According to Heriot-Watt, manual calibration currently accounts for more than half of photonics production costs. FreeForm Photonics’ approach is intended to remove much of that complexity by integrating alignment into the component itself, creating a manufacturing pathway that is faster, more cost-effective and precise to sub-micron tolerances.

The potential relevance extends across multiple high-value application areas. The university says the technology could support production in markets including quantum technologies, medical diagnostics and optical communications, all of which depend on increasingly complex photonic systems. That makes the development particularly relevant to Scotland’s wider critical technologies ecosystem, where photonics acts as a foundational capability connected to adjacent fields such as quantum and sensing.

FreeForm Photonics has emerged from Heriot-Watt’s School of Engineering and Physical Sciences. The school’s work spans imaging, sensing, telecommunications, healthcare, quantum sensing and nanoscale quantum devices, providing a strong environment for translating research into commercial opportunity.

The spinout is being supported through Scottish Enterprise’s High Growth Spinout Programme as it moves toward seed investment and commercial growth. The story is a strong example of how Scottish research, entrepreneurship and innovation support can combine to create new commercial opportunities in critical technologies.

From an SCTS perspective, the development highlights the importance of photonics not only as a research strength, but as an enabling technology with practical impact across multiple sectors. It also reinforces the value of connecting Scotland’s capabilities across photonics, quantum, semiconductors, and sensing & connectivity as part of a broader critical technologies ecosystem.

Read the full news story published by Heriot-Watt University.