Hollow WaveGuide Technology

Our new optical hybrid technology improves performance and at the same time reduces expenditure. It employs a radical hollow waveguide (HWG). The HWG has the potential to cut more than 50% off the cost of complete optical circuits.

The unique QinetiQ technology uses a simple and structured architecture, enabling light to be guided directly from device to device across a large area. This overcomes the problems of beam divergence and alignment accuracy. The conventional rib waveguide structure is turned on its head and a 'hollow' guide is used instead.

For many vendors in today's difficult market cost reduction is the key to remaining competitive. Vitally, our hollow waveguide delivers this. As well as delivering significant savings, the technology allows dynamic, flexible, high quality and easily manufactured optical circuits.

The HWG complements the traditional "rib" or "ridge" structure and maintains all the usual performance criteria. It also allows greatly simplified assembly of components or modules. For example, the insertion of a component into a guide now involves only two interfaces instead of the traditional four.

Another major benefit of the HWG is that monolithic functions can be integrated in the same fabrication process that is used to create the hollow waveguides - e.g. MEMS devices, multi-mode interference (MMI) devices and free space component functions. This represents a generic low cost approach to manufacturing hybrid integrated optic assemblies demanded by current, and future, telecommunications systems and subsystems.

We offer a design service, which allows customers to realise the benefits offered by HWG for their specific applications. We can also provide access to substrate fabrication, and designs may be transferred directly into customer facilities, or passed to preferred partners for high volume manufacture. This frees up resources for vendors, enabling greater cost-reduction, more dynamic operation and increased flexibility.