The last grating releases part of the light toward the eye at every bounce. Ambient light diffracting off the gratings causes rainbow artifacts, and some image light leaks forward.
Why does the waveguide architecture matter?
A waveguide is a thin transparent plate that carries the projector’s image to the eye by total internal reflection. A diffractive waveguide uses nanoscale gratings to couple the light in, spread it across the eyebox and release it toward the eye; the illustrated lens shows that design. A reflective, or geometric, waveguide uses a row of partially reflective mirrors inside the glass instead. iFixit found that design in Meta Ray-Ban Display, with each mirror reflecting about 5% of the light. The two are made with different processes, so a maker of one is not a maker of the other.
Which listed companies make complete waveguides?
On the diffractive side, JBD’s release credits Applied Materials with the single-layer etched waveguide in RayNeo X3 Pro, and Vuzix says it designs and makes diffractive waveguides on its own nanoimprint lines in Rochester, New York. On the reflective side, Lumus licenses its design: Quanta Computer is licensed to make Lumus Z-30 2.0 and A-Lens waveguides, and Crystal-Optech signed a manufacturing agreement in September 2026, joining Quanta and SCHOTT. AUO makes waveguides for AR glasses but has not documented their type, so it is not linked to the grating parts. Goertek’s waveguide work sits in Goertek Optical, an associate in which it holds 38.34%, so Goertek is not linked here. Lumus, SCHOTT AG and Magic Leap are not publicly listed.
What does a license, a joint development agreement or a wafer sale establish?
Each establishes a narrower fact than it may seem. A manufacturing license shows who may make a design, not which glasses use the output or in what volume. EssilorLuxottica and Applied Materials signed a long-term joint development agreement on waveguides, adaptive lenses and materials in June 2026; the release discloses no volume, pricing or financial terms. Corning, AGC, HOYA, Mitsui Chemicals, Coherent and SICC market high-index glass, polymer or silicon-carbide wafers for waveguides. That makes them upstream enablers, not waveguide makers, and none names a shipping glasses program in our sources.
How to research a waveguide company
- Identify the architecture first: diffractive (gratings made by imprint or etch), reflective (mirror facets in glass) or another combiner. Connect a company only to parts its architecture actually contains.
- Name the role: design licensor, licensed manufacturer, complete-waveguide maker, or wafer and material vendor. Each earns money differently.
- Match the claim to a named product and a stage. A joint development agreement, sampling and volume shipping are different milestones.
- Check who owns the unit. Goertek Optical is an associate of Goertek, not a subsidiary.
- Check scale. Vuzix reported Q2 2026 sales of $1.113 million, so a waveguide program can be technically important and still small in revenue.
- Use the list as a starting point: it is curated, not exhaustive, and the model is illustrative, not a bill of materials.
Sources
- iFixit: Meta Ray-Ban Display waveguide
A geometric (reflective) waveguide whose partial mirrors each reflect about 5% of the light.
- Vuzix: waveguides
Vuzix designs and manufactures diffractive waveguides on its own nanoimprint lithography lines in Rochester, New York.
- JBD, Applied Materials and RayNeo release, Sept 22, 2025
The release credits Applied Materials with the single-layer etched waveguide in RayNeo X3 Pro.
- Lumus and Quanta release, Sept 1, 2026
Quanta is licensed to manufacture Lumus Z-30 2.0 and A-Lens waveguides; an investor in Lumus since 2016.
- Lumus and Crystal-Optech release, Sept 9, 2026
Crystal-Optech will manufacture Lumus geometric waveguides, joining Quanta and SCHOTT; it is also a Lumus investor.
- EssilorLuxottica and Applied Materials release, June 16, 2026
A long-term joint development agreement on waveguides, adaptive lens systems and materials, with no volume, pricing or financial terms disclosed.
- Vuzix Q2 2026 results, Aug 13, 2026
Total Q2 2026 sales of $1.113 million, which frames the scale of a small waveguide business.
Engineering reference: Diffractive waveguide lens stack. Company-specific evidence is linked from the profiles below.
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