Swedish waveguide company Gapwaves and Austrian microelectronics manufacturer AT&S have entered into a cooperation to industrialize high-precision waveguide antenna layers for automotive radar applications. The recently signed production agreement marks AT&S’s first engagement as a pure etching provider and opens the door to further joint projects.
Under the agreement, AT&S manufactures ultra-fine waveguide antenna layers for Gapwaves’ advanced and patented waveguide antennas. The components guide high-frequency radar signals that allow vehicles to reliably detect their surroundings, supporting modern driver assistance and automated driving functions. The etched antenna layers are produced with micrometer-range tolerances and play a critical role at mmWave frequencies. Leveraging Gapwaves’ patented multi-layer waveguide (MLW) technology, the antenna layers produced by AT&S are thinner, more compact and easier to adapt, allowing for faster design iterations and simplified sensor integration.
Gapwaves' patented MLW technology enables high-performance antennas that are central to the next generation of automotive radar systems, combining low losses, extremely thin profiles, native thermal handling and cost-efficiency for high production volumes. AT&S delivers precisely etched waveguide antenna layers that play a critical role at high frequencies and are an important component in Gapwaves’ MLW automotive radar antennas.
High-precision etching in Fehring, Austria
“This project shows how versatile AT&S’s manufacturing capabilities have become,” says Philipp Reupold, senior director of Regional Sales Europe at AT&S. “Entering a cooperation as a dedicated etching partner is new for us and creates a strong growth perspective. We thank Gapwaves for the trust and excellent cooperation.” AT&S R&D teams spent nearly two years developing a dedicated etching process capable of meeting Gapwaves’ specifications. Engineering was carried out in Leoben, Austria, with series production ramping up in Fehring, Austria, strengthening the long-term utilization of the site.
In 2023, Gapwaves selected AT&S as a manufacturing partner, responsible for producing the precision-etched antenna layers that form a key component of Gapwaves' patented waveguide technology. What started as a development project has now evolved into a production partnership with strong expansion potential. “At mmWave radar frequencies, every micrometer matters. The result of our collaboration is a manufacturable solution that only very few suppliers worldwide could deliver without major investments,” says Roland Heimrath, expert application engineering at AT&S.
Robust supply chain
“Through a long-term collaboration, Gapwaves and AT&S have successfully integrated our patented MLW antenna technology with their high-precision etching capabilities,” says Claes Haglund, sourcing manager at Gapwaves. “The process has been genuinely collaborative — leveraging AT&S's extensive high volume manufacturing expertise, we have refined our product offering while jointly optimizing AT&S's production processes to meet our specific requirements. AT&S is a world-renowned and highly regarded producer, and I am therefore pleased that we now have a formal supply agreement in place for high volume supply of material for our MLW antennas — securing a scalable and robust supply chain that meets the rigorous quality standards of the automotive industry."