Intevac Introduces oDLCTM – Scratch-Resistant Coating in Production at Truly Opto-electronics

Wed, June 29 2016

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Intevac, Inc. (Nasdaq:IVAC) a leading supplier of thin-film processing systems, today formally introduces its latest thin-film technology, oDLC^TM (optical Diamond-Like-Carbon), for application in the mobile electronics market. oDLC is a protective thin-film coating which provides significant improvements in the scratch resistance of display cover panels for all types of mobile electronic devices, as well as point-of-sales and automotive infotainment systems. Leveraging over 25 years of industry-leading experience in Diamond-Like-Carbon (DLC) over-coatings for the hard disk drive media market, Intevac has engineered an optically-transparent and mechanically hard protective coating for the display cover panel industry.

Significantly Improved Performance of Display Cover Glass

As electronic displays have proliferated with the growing use of smartphones, tablet computers, and wearables, so have the problems users experience with damage to the display cover glass, such as scratching, hazing and breakage. To address these issues, Intevac has developed an optimized Diamond-Like-Carbon thin-film coating that provides superior scratch resistance while delivering unsurpassed optical clarity. Historically, DLC coatings lacked the optical properties required for use in electronic displays, specifically transparency and color neutrality. These issues are now resolved by Intevac’s new oDLC thin-film solution.

oDLC^TM Display Cover Glass Performance vs. Uncoated Display Cover Glass:

• Greater than 20x Increase in Scratch Resistance
• Greater than 91% Light Transmission (Optical Clarity)
• Greater than 10x Increase in Haze Resistance
• Approximately 20% Increase in Breakage Resistance

oDLC^TM Ready for Display Cover Glass Production

Truly Opto-electronics (Shanwei City, China), a major supplier of cover glass and touch panel technologies to mobile electronics manufactures, has qualified the use of oDLC on its products and has purchased multiple INTEVAC VERTEX™ systems to support volume demand from their customers.

“Truly Opto-electronics and our customers have thoroughly tested Intevac’s oDLC protective coating technology. We have found oDLC to provide superior scratch protection for electronic display cover glass and has outperformed all other competitive solutions we evaluated,” commented Mr. Li, Managing Director of Truly Opto-electronics. “In addition to the superior scratch protection of Intevac’s oDLC, our customers have been particularly impressed with our ability to deliver this solution at highly attractive price points. We firmly believe in the enabling capability of oDLC to deliver innovative new solutions into the mobile electronics market, as well as adjacent applications.”

“Intevac is excited to have partnered with Truly Opto-electronics, and we look forward to building on the momentum we have established in the mobile electronics market with oDLC,” added Jay Cho, executive vice president and general manager of Intevac's Thin-Film Equipment business.

INTEVAC VERTEX^TM – A Complete Solution

The thin-film equipment that enables the oDLC solution is the INTEVAC VERTEX multi-stage Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) system. The VERTEX PVD system deposits the oDLC thin-film coating vertically and at the low process temperatures required for display cover panel processing. The VERTEX is an optimal production solution for small individualized substrates, achieving the highest level of throughput at the lowest possible cost.

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.

INTEVAC VERTEX™ and oDLC™ are trademarks of Intevac, Inc.

About Truly Opto-electronics Limited

Truly Opto-electronics Limited is part of the Truly Group. Truly Group (Hong Kong Exchange: 00732.HK) was founded in Hong Kong in 1978 and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1991. Truly Opto-electronics Limited, founded in 2008 and located within the Truly Industrial Area - Shanwei, Guangdong Province (China), is one of Truly Group’s five subsidiaries with operations covering 950,000 m2. Truly Opto-electronics specializes in research, manufacturing and sales of touch panel, optical bonding modules, compact camera modules, finger-print identification, pattern glass, thin-film treatments such as optical Diamond-Like-Carbon (oDLC), etc. Products are widely applied to smartphones, automotive, industrial and medical applications. Truly Opto-electronics services customer worldwide including Samsung, Sony, OPPO, vivo, Huawei and MicroMax. For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.trulyopto.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release includes statements that constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Reform Act”). Intevac claims the protection of the safe-harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Reform Act. These forward-looking statements are often characterized by the terms “may,” “believes,“ “projects,” “expects,” or “anticipates,” and do not reflect historical facts. Specific forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to; the capabilities of the company’s oDLC coatings and INTEVAC VERTEX systems. The forward-looking statements contained herein involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the company’s expectations. These risks include, but are not limited to: the failure to meet system capabilities and expectations, which could have a material impact on our business, our financial results, and the company's stock price. These risks and other factors are detailed in the Company’s periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Intevac, Inc.
Jay Aggarwal, 408-986-9888
Global Product Marketing Director
or
Claire McAdams, 530-265-9899
Investor Relations

Source: Intevac, Inc.