Heriot-Watt Uni’s ‘laser breakthrough’ could revolutionise modern manufacturing

Heriot-Watt University said FreeForm Photonics, which is in the process of being spun out, was set to commercialise a laser-based process that builds alignment directly into optical glass components, removing the tricky manual calibration that currently accounts for more than half of all photonics production costs.

Experts said the result was a manufacturing pathway that is “faster, cheaper and precise to sub-micron tolerances” - a scale far smaller than the width of a human hair. The revolutionary process is said to remove the complexity that has long made photonic systems prohibitively expensive to scale.

Sectors such as quantum computing systems, next-generation medical diagnostics and the optical communications infrastructure underpinning the modern internet all depend on photonic components that are currently largely assembled by hand.

Dr Calum Ross, research fellow in the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences at Heriot-Watt University, said: “By integrating passive alignment features into the glass components themselves, we are fundamentally changing what it takes to manufacture high-performance optics. The potential applications range from fibre optic sensing in the harshest industrial environments to enabling the quantum computing systems that the world is racing to build.”

Traditional photonics assembly demands either painstaking manual adjustment or costly active alignment systems, each introducing risk, time and expense at every stage. FreeForm Photonics said it had removed that dependency entirely, embedding precision into the component from the outset.

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The venture has now secured funding through Scottish Enterprise’s high growth spinout programme to create a high growth and scalable future company and prepare for seed investment.

Entering a global photonic components market valued at some $1 billion (£740 million) in 2024 and forecast to grow sharply, the team already has more than 100 industry leaders and prospective customers who have assessed the technology. There is said to be a “strong appetite” to adopt it at medium-volume production scale. Trial samples are also being supplied to customers in the aerospace, telecommunications and healthcare sectors.

Professor Gillian Murray, deputy principal for enterprise and business at Heriot-Watt University, said: “As a university with a global reach and a deep commitment to enterprise, we are uniquely placed to help turn pioneering research into real commercial impact. FreeForm Photonics is a clear example of that in action, taking a genuinely novel capability developed here at Heriot-Watt and building it into something with the potential to reshape how photonic components are made worldwide.

“Through our entrepreneurial programmes and business support, we are working to strengthen Scotland’s innovation ecosystem and back the kind of high-growth businesses that can compete on the global stage.”

Derek Shaw, director of entrepreneurship and investment at Scottish Enterprise, added: “FreeForm Photonics is a great example of how Scotland’s supportive innovation ecosystem system can help turn cutting-edge research into global opportunity. Its breakthrough technology has the potential to transform photonic manufacturing and drive progress across quantum, healthcare and communications.

“We look forward to continuing to work with the company as it scales and realises its global ambition.”