Intevac
Encyclopedia
Intevac, Inc. is headquartered in Santa Clara, California in the Silicon Valley
. The company has U.S. offices in Carlsbad, California and Laramie, Wyoming and in Asia, with offices in China, Japan, Korea and Malaysia and Singapore.
Founded in 1991 as a spin-off from Varian Associates
, Intevac went public in 1995. The company is organized into two business sectors: Process Equipment and Intevac Photonics.
and semiconductor
industries. The company's capital equipment design is based on lean manufacturing
principles, a methodology that simplifies design and processes in order to reduce waste and increase the product value for the customer.
system for magnetic hard disk media manufacturing. Introduced in 2008, the 200 Lean Gen II is based on the company’s 200 Lean tool for Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR). The first 200 Lean shipped in 2003 and as of 2011, Intevac has delivered over 220 systems to their customers. The company believes that their 200 Lean tool currently represents over 60% of installed systems worldwide.
The 200 Lean Gen II incorporates an enhanced control system and advanced software. Using Intevac’s multi-layer process source, the tool can deposit multiple layers of the ultra-thin films required by advanced HDD technologies including patterned media
, the next major media technology transition for the hard drive industry.
Additional 200 Lean Gen II enhancements include a magnetically-driven transport system that enables disk transfer from process station to process station in 600 milliseconds and throughput of up to 1000 disks per hour (dph). This represents a 40% decrease in transport time and a 25% increase in throughput compared to the company’s 200 Lean system.
The first 200 Lean Gen II system shipped in 2008.
Intevac entered the solar market in 2009 with their LEAN SOLAR processing platform for CIGS cell manufacturing.
In 2010, the company introduced LEAN SOLAR for c-Si solar cell
processing. The system is designed to reduce overall costs, improve cell quality, efficiency and yield, and increase profitability for Intevac’s solar customers. LEAN SOLAR processes cells individually at a throughput rate of 2400 cells per hour, with precise, uniform, repeatable, multi-layer film properties that enable a rapid scale-up to high efficiencies. The system has a small footprint, double-sided processing capabilities and a modular design to support evolving cell architectures.
The company has also developed process technology modules for their LEAN SOLAR platform. These include NanoTexture™ Etch, ENERGi ion implant, and an integrated Physical vapor deposition
(PVD) module. Intevac’s ENERGi ion implantation
module, designed specifically for solar, was developed by Solar Implant Technologies (SIT). SIT was acquired by Intevac in 2010.
The first LEAN SOLAR c-Si system shipped in 2011.
NanoVista™
In 2010, Intevac introduced the NanoVista photovoltaic cell inspection system. NanoVista incorporates the company’s proprietary imaging sensor technology which enables the system to collect 1.3 megapixel photoluminescence
images of in-process materials and finished cells at up to 3600 wafers per hour. The system’s software performs data analysis that can be used to provide process monitoring, pass/fail criteria and wafer grading. NanoVista has the ability to capture the entire silicon spectrum, perform whole wafer, high resolution photoluminescence mapping in milliseconds, sort as-cut wafers by efficiency before processing, and identify defective wafers for removal from the line. The first NanoVista shipped in 2010.
Intevac’s Continuum™ is "one-piece" platform for semiconductor (IC) manufacturing. The company developed this universal platform as an alternative to the "unit" (platform plus process modules) design. Continuum is designed to reduce the costs associated with ongoing design node and wafer size changes by offering a platform that can accommodate best-of-breed chip processing chambers and modules. The first Continuum shipped in 2010.
Intevac Vision Systems
IVS develops and manufactures compact digital-optical sensors and cameras for the capture and display of low-light images for government applications including night vision
, long range target identification and simulation training. In 2007, Intevac acquired Creative Display Systems (CDS), a Carlsbad, California-based manufacturer of high performance, miniature micro-display products. This acquisition added CDS assets to the IVS portfolio, including the I-Port™ family of high resolution near-eye display systems used for multiple applications in commercial industries and the military market.
IVS digital low-light and night vision products, based on Intevac’s patented Electron Bombarded Active Pixel Sensor (EBAPS™) CMOS technology include:
LIVAR® (Laser Illuminated Viewing and Ranging), a range-gated, laser-illuminated, two-dimensional imaging system for long range target identification
NightPort™, a 8.35 ounce digital image intensified (DI2) night vision viewer for handheld or helmet-mounted use
NightVista™ small footprint DI2 cameras and sensor modules for daylight, low light or nighttime imaging
DeltaNu
DeltaNu, acquired by Intevac in 2007, develops and manufactures Raman spectroscopy
and microscopy instruments for non-destructive materials identification and verification. Products include bench-top spectrometers for the lab, and portable and handheld spectrometers for use in the field. DeltaNu products are used by government agencies and commercial industries for applications including hazmat, inspection, pharmaceutical, scientific, quality assurance/ quality control (QA/QC), and security.
DeltaNu’s palm-sized material identification systems include:
ReporteR™ identifies narcotics, industrial chemicals, hazardous materials and explosives
RAPID•ID™ identifies the chemical make-up of materials for QA/QC applications
PHARMA•ID identifies and validates excipients and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API)
Portable systems include:
ObserveR™ a handheld medium range (0.1m to 3m) stand-off Raman system designed for the chem./bio and threat detection markets to identify explosives, chemicals, toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) and toxic industrial materials (TIMs)
ObserveR™ LR a long range (10m to 30m) stand-off Raman spectrometer for the safe identification of unknown materials.
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
. The company has U.S. offices in Carlsbad, California and Laramie, Wyoming and in Asia, with offices in China, Japan, Korea and Malaysia and Singapore.
Founded in 1991 as a spin-off from Varian Associates
Varian Associates
Varian Associates was one of the first high-tech companies in Silicon Valley. It was founded in 1948 by Russell H. and Sigurd F. Varian, William Webster Hansen, and Edward Ginzton to sell the klystron, the first tube which could generate electromagnetic waves at microwave frequencies, and other...
, Intevac went public in 1995. The company is organized into two business sectors: Process Equipment and Intevac Photonics.
Process Equipment
Intevac's Process Equipment business develops and manufactures capital equipment for the hard disk drive (HDD), solarSolar
Solar may refer to:Astronomy* Of or relating to the Sun** A device that utilizes solar energy** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate the position of the earth on its revolution around the sun* Solar Maximum Mission, a satellite...
and semiconductor
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
industries. The company's capital equipment design is based on lean manufacturing
Lean manufacturing
Lean manufacturing, lean enterprise, or lean production, often simply, "Lean," is a production practice that considers the expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination...
principles, a methodology that simplifies design and processes in order to reduce waste and increase the product value for the customer.
HDD
The 200 Lean™ Gen II is Intevac’s second generation sputteringSputtering
Sputtering is a process whereby atoms are ejected from a solid target material due to bombardment of the target by energetic particles. It is commonly used for thin-film deposition, etching and analytical techniques .-Physics of sputtering:...
system for magnetic hard disk media manufacturing. Introduced in 2008, the 200 Lean Gen II is based on the company’s 200 Lean tool for Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR). The first 200 Lean shipped in 2003 and as of 2011, Intevac has delivered over 220 systems to their customers. The company believes that their 200 Lean tool currently represents over 60% of installed systems worldwide.
The 200 Lean Gen II incorporates an enhanced control system and advanced software. Using Intevac’s multi-layer process source, the tool can deposit multiple layers of the ultra-thin films required by advanced HDD technologies including patterned media
Patterned media
Patterned media is a magnetic storage technology used to record data in a uniform array of magnetic cells, storing one bit per cell, as opposed to regular hard-drive technology, where each bit is stored across a few hundred magnetic grains...
, the next major media technology transition for the hard drive industry.
Additional 200 Lean Gen II enhancements include a magnetically-driven transport system that enables disk transfer from process station to process station in 600 milliseconds and throughput of up to 1000 disks per hour (dph). This represents a 40% decrease in transport time and a 25% increase in throughput compared to the company’s 200 Lean system.
The first 200 Lean Gen II system shipped in 2008.
Solar
LEAN SOLAR™Intevac entered the solar market in 2009 with their LEAN SOLAR processing platform for CIGS cell manufacturing.
In 2010, the company introduced LEAN SOLAR for c-Si solar cell
Solar cell
A solar cell is a solid state electrical device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect....
processing. The system is designed to reduce overall costs, improve cell quality, efficiency and yield, and increase profitability for Intevac’s solar customers. LEAN SOLAR processes cells individually at a throughput rate of 2400 cells per hour, with precise, uniform, repeatable, multi-layer film properties that enable a rapid scale-up to high efficiencies. The system has a small footprint, double-sided processing capabilities and a modular design to support evolving cell architectures.
The company has also developed process technology modules for their LEAN SOLAR platform. These include NanoTexture™ Etch, ENERGi ion implant, and an integrated Physical vapor deposition
Physical vapor deposition
Physical vapor deposition is a variety of vacuum deposition and is a general term used to describe any of a variety of methods to deposit thin films by the condensation of a vaporized form of the desired film material onto various workpiece surfaces...
(PVD) module. Intevac’s ENERGi ion implantation
Ion implantation
Ion implantation is a materials engineering process by which ions of a material are accelerated in an electrical field and impacted into another solid. This process is used to change the physical, chemical, or electrical properties of the solid...
module, designed specifically for solar, was developed by Solar Implant Technologies (SIT). SIT was acquired by Intevac in 2010.
The first LEAN SOLAR c-Si system shipped in 2011.
NanoVista™
In 2010, Intevac introduced the NanoVista photovoltaic cell inspection system. NanoVista incorporates the company’s proprietary imaging sensor technology which enables the system to collect 1.3 megapixel photoluminescence
Photoluminescence
Photoluminescence is a process in which a substance absorbs photons and then re-radiates photons. Quantum mechanically, this can be described as an excitation to a higher energy state and then a return to a lower energy state accompanied by the emission of a photon...
images of in-process materials and finished cells at up to 3600 wafers per hour. The system’s software performs data analysis that can be used to provide process monitoring, pass/fail criteria and wafer grading. NanoVista has the ability to capture the entire silicon spectrum, perform whole wafer, high resolution photoluminescence mapping in milliseconds, sort as-cut wafers by efficiency before processing, and identify defective wafers for removal from the line. The first NanoVista shipped in 2010.
Semiconductor
CONTINUUM™Intevac’s Continuum™ is "one-piece" platform for semiconductor (IC) manufacturing. The company developed this universal platform as an alternative to the "unit" (platform plus process modules) design. Continuum is designed to reduce the costs associated with ongoing design node and wafer size changes by offering a platform that can accommodate best-of-breed chip processing chambers and modules. The first Continuum shipped in 2010.
Intevac Photonics
Intevac Photonics, has two business units, Intevac Vision Systems (IVS) and DeltaNu.Intevac Vision Systems
IVS develops and manufactures compact digital-optical sensors and cameras for the capture and display of low-light images for government applications including night vision
Night vision
Night vision is the ability to see in low light conditions. Whether by biological or technological means, night vision is made possible by a combination of two approaches: sufficient spectral range, and sufficient intensity range...
, long range target identification and simulation training. In 2007, Intevac acquired Creative Display Systems (CDS), a Carlsbad, California-based manufacturer of high performance, miniature micro-display products. This acquisition added CDS assets to the IVS portfolio, including the I-Port™ family of high resolution near-eye display systems used for multiple applications in commercial industries and the military market.
IVS digital low-light and night vision products, based on Intevac’s patented Electron Bombarded Active Pixel Sensor (EBAPS™) CMOS technology include:
LIVAR® (Laser Illuminated Viewing and Ranging), a range-gated, laser-illuminated, two-dimensional imaging system for long range target identification
NightPort™, a 8.35 ounce digital image intensified (DI2) night vision viewer for handheld or helmet-mounted use
NightVista™ small footprint DI2 cameras and sensor modules for daylight, low light or nighttime imaging
DeltaNu
DeltaNu, acquired by Intevac in 2007, develops and manufactures Raman spectroscopy
Raman spectroscopy
Raman spectroscopy is a spectroscopic technique used to study vibrational, rotational, and other low-frequency modes in a system.It relies on inelastic scattering, or Raman scattering, of monochromatic light, usually from a laser in the visible, near infrared, or near ultraviolet range...
and microscopy instruments for non-destructive materials identification and verification. Products include bench-top spectrometers for the lab, and portable and handheld spectrometers for use in the field. DeltaNu products are used by government agencies and commercial industries for applications including hazmat, inspection, pharmaceutical, scientific, quality assurance/ quality control (QA/QC), and security.
DeltaNu’s palm-sized material identification systems include:
ReporteR™ identifies narcotics, industrial chemicals, hazardous materials and explosives
RAPID•ID™ identifies the chemical make-up of materials for QA/QC applications
PHARMA•ID identifies and validates excipients and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API)
Portable systems include:
ObserveR™ a handheld medium range (0.1m to 3m) stand-off Raman system designed for the chem./bio and threat detection markets to identify explosives, chemicals, toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) and toxic industrial materials (TIMs)
ObserveR™ LR a long range (10m to 30m) stand-off Raman spectrometer for the safe identification of unknown materials.