Intevac Launches High-Productivity VERTEX Marathon™ System, Enabling Ultra-Durable DiamondClad™ Protective Coatings

Mon, October 28 2019

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Intevac, Inc. (Nasdaq: IVAC), a leading supplier of thin-film processing systems, announced today the launch of its VERTEX Marathon™ system. Marathon is a high-productivity thin-film platform targeted initially for the display cover glass market. Concurrent with this launch, Intevac also announced the availability of its DiamondClad™ protective coating, the industry’s newest scratch-protection solution. DiamondClad is the evolution of Intevac’s first-generation optical diamond-like carbon (oDLC®) film, and delivers enhanced scratch protection and durability, while maintaining the same high optical clarity. The new coating process produces a multi-layer, diamond-like carbon film with performance similar to sapphire under Mohs 8 scratch testing, and which is far superior to standard anti-fingerprint (AF) coated display cover glass, which scratches at Mohs 5. Additionally, DiamondClad exhibits four times better performance on Taber wear testing as compared to AF-coated glass. In use-case AF durability testing, where samples were exposed to perspiration, denim, and abrasive sand, DiamondClad outperformed standard display cover glass by up to six times.

“After several years of oDLC evolution, we are very pleased to announce the availability of DiamondClad, our next-generation diamond-like carbon film, offering unprecedented protection for smartphone display cover glass and the emerging field of foldable phones,” commented Wendell Blonigan, president and chief executive officer of Intevac. “The VERTEX Marathon is a flexible platform, especially designed for multi-step, multi-layer processing, such as in DiamondClad, as well as decorative and anti-reflective coatings. This new platform offers high-volume throughput, and larger processing areas, enabling the most advanced oDLC coatings at less than half the cost of oDLC 1.0 on previous generations of the VERTEX, providing an extremely compelling performance-to-cost proposition to our customers.”

The Marathon system is scalable and can be equipped with all the process technology that has been developed for the VERTEX family of tools, and supports protective, anti-reflective, decorative, and patterned coatings at very high substrate throughputs.

Intevac is currently introducing both the VERTEX Marathon and DiamondClad to select display cover glass manufacturers, and multiple Tier-1 handset manufacturers.

About VERTEX Marathon™

VERTEX Marathon combines the best features of both in-line systems and drum coaters, delivering a highly flexible and versatile platform for high-volume manufacturing of optical coatings. The Marathon is modular and expandable like an in-line system, yet enables batch processing and continuous, multiple-pass operation as does a standard drum coater. Utilizing a carrier-based transport system that accommodates various-sized substrates and materials, the system can be configured for multiple applications and processes, or streamlined for single application purposes.

About Intevac

Intevac was founded in 1991 and has two businesses: Thin-film Equipment and Photonics.

In our Thin-film Equipment business, we are a leader in the design and development of high-productivity, thin-film processing systems. Our production-proven platforms are designed for high-volume manufacturing of substrates with precise thin film properties, such as the hard drive media, display cover panel, and solar photovoltaic markets we serve currently.

In our Photonics business, we are a recognized leading developer of advanced high-sensitivity digital sensors, cameras and systems that primarily serve the defense industry. We are the provider of integrated digital imaging systems for most U.S. military night vision programs.

For more information, call 408-986-9888 or visit the company's website at www.intevac.com.

VERTEX Marathon^TM and DiamondClad^TM are trademarks of Intevac, Inc.

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James Moniz
Chief Financial Officer
(408) 986-9888

Claire McAdams
Investor Relations
(530) 265-9899

Source: Intevac, Inc.