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ACCURATE RELIABLE HIGH QUALITY
Corporate OverviewMarch 21, 2019
Forward Looking Statements
This Presentation contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. These statements generally can be identified by use of forward-looking words such as “may”, “will”, “could”, “would”, “should”, “might”, “expect”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “consider”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “plan”, “project”, “assume”, “strategy”, “goals”, “objectives”, “potential”, “possible” or “continue” or the negative thereof or similar variations. Such forward-looking statements concern the business and anticipated financial performance of the Company and include, without limitation, the Company’s outlook on the long-term prospects of the market and the Company, the Company’s expectations with respect to the overall order activity for the balance of the year, growth in the dollar value of the wafer fabrication equipment market, revenue from new products, growth in the etch market and the Company’s ability to build on its financial and operational foundation in the future.
These forward-looking statements are based on certain factors and assumptions, including, without limitation: the Company’s ability to develop, manufacture and sell new products that meet the needs of its customers and gain commercial acceptance; the Company’s ability to continue to sell its products in line with quantity, price and delivery expectations; the Company’s ability to attract new business; the Company’s ability to successfully complete new purchase orders along the timelines expected; continued and future demand for the Company’s products; continued sales to the Company’s major customers; the continued financial health of the semiconductor industry; the Company’s ability to continue and further enhance revenue diversification and open new market opportunities; and the Company’s expectations regarding market risk, including interest rate changes, tax changes and foreign currency fluctuations.
Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: additional measures and controls may not be implemented as expected or along the timelines anticipated; uncertainties relating to the market for the Company’s products and maintaining a stable level of orders; fluctuations in revenue as a result of volatility in the markets and product mix; risks relating to the Company’s present reliance on its major customers for the majority of its sales; risks relating to the Company’s reliance on the financial health of the semiconductor industry; risks relating to the development of competing technologies and the possibility of increased competition; the effect of slow growth in the United States, the Company’s principal market, as well as other economies and other economic trends and conditions in the markets that the Company and its customers serve; risks associated with technical difficulties or delays in product introductions, improvements, implementation; uncertainties in product pricing or other initiatives of the Company and its competitors; uncertainties in factors that may result in a reduction in capital expenditures and/or delayed buying decisions affecting demand for the Company’s products; risks relating to currency fluctuations, particularly between the Canadian and United States dollars; risks in pursuing additional development projects to support existing customers or pursue other business opportunities; and such other risks as are identified in the Company’s Annual Information Form and other disclosure documents filed on SEDAR atwww.sedar.com.
The foregoing assumptions, risks and uncertainties are not exhaustive of the items that may affect our forward-looking statements. Should underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect or one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The Company’s forward-looking statements are based on beliefs, expectations and opinions of management on the date the statements are made.
For the reasons set forth above, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements included herein if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as otherwise required by applicable law.
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• Photon Control is a critical subsystems supplier of fiber optic sensors for process monitoring of wafer fabrication equipment (WFE)
• We have over 100,000 fiber optic sensors installed for process monitoring applications
• We are headquartered in Richmond, BC, with an office in San Jose, CA
• Publicly traded company since 2000 (TSX:PHO)• 2018 Revenue: $47M / EBITDA: $15M• 5-year Revenue CAGR: 22%• Cash (Dec 31/18): $42M
Photon Control Facts
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What We Do
Photon Control provides accurate and reliable fiber optic temperature and position sensors for process monitoring in harsh environments found in advanced wafer fabrication equipment.
Our products improve process uniformity, enabling higher chip yields and fab efficiency.
Accurate fiber optic sensors
Uniform process in plasma etch and deposition
Improved uniformity on final wafer out of fab
Greater Chip Yieldand higher fab uptime ($$$)
Photon Control’s Fiber Optic Temperature
Probes and Converter
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Financial Snapshot
Q4 2018 Fiscal 2018
Revenue $8M $47M
Gross Margin 52% 55%
EBITDA Margin 31% 33%
Free Cash Flow $2M $12M
As at December 31, 2018
Cash $42M
Order Backlog $13M
New Product Introduction
(“NPI”) Funnel$40M
Headcount 101 Employees
5 year CAGR = 22%
$17$21
$28
$32
$44$47
$0
$10
$20
$30
$40
$50
$60
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Reve
nue
5
(in $ millions)
Product ConceptProduct Roadmap
orCustomer Request
Deliver 1st Prototype
Units
Deliver 1st Production
Units
3 to 18 months1 to 3 months 24 to 72 months 12 to 24 months
NotifyCustomers of
EOL
Analyze Opportunity New Product Introduction (NPI) Production Revenue End of Life (EOL)
Product Life Cycle
Our solutions become “designed in” to our customers’ products, producing stable growing revenue streams with multi-year life cycles.
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2019 Growth Initiatives
New Product Introductions (NPI) in plasma etch and deposition – grow and execute• Current NPI funnel is worth over $40 million
in forecasted revenue over the first 3 years of production
• We continue to seed the market with key design wins in the deposition space
Streamline Operations – maintain profitability while investing• Continued focus on supply chain optimization
and business continuity
Invest in Disruptive Technologies• Use internal development, strategic
partnerships and M&A to increase technical differentiation to accelerate time to revenue
Build Scalable Product Portfolio – introduce new temperature and position sensor products in 2019• Temperature sensors: Expand product
application, improve performance and increase number of measurement points
• Position sensors: New sensors to reduce tool setup time and improve yield
Return Cash to Shareholders• We are committed to buy back 5.5M shares
in 2019 as part of our NCIB program• To date, 1.6M shares have been repurchased
in 2019.
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Markets & Technology Drivers
Global Semiconductor Market
Artificial Intelligence
Exponentialgrowth
ConsumerVR / AR Digital
displays
Industrial/Medical
Smart Grid/Mobile Medical
Big Data/Cloud
Bandwidth/Memory
AutomotiveAutonomous
driving
Internet of Things
200B connected devices by 2020
MobilityTransition to 5G
Autos: $28B (9%)2
Robotics $10B (30%)
IoT $21B (15%)
Phones: $90B (4%)
Servers: $17B (6%)
VR/AR: $10B (15%)
Medical: $5.9B
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Sources:1. G. Dickerson, Semicon West Keynote, July 20182 IC Insights (2018), The Robot Report (2018), Statistica (2018, Technvio (2017))
Labeling convention: “Market”: IC Revenue in 2020 (CAGR 2016-2020)
The semiconductor market is at the beginning of the “AI and Big Data” Era1, which will drive growth in a diverse number of end markets such as IoT, 5G, and autonomous vehicles.
Growth in these end markets and the trend toward smart semiconductor manufacturing will lead to growing demand for Photon Control’s products
Our high-accuracy fiber optic sensors enable improved process monitoring, uniformity, and repeatability in harsh environments, which provides value throughout the supply chain.
PhotonControl
Wafer Fabrication Equipment
Manufacturers
SemiconductorChip
Manufacturers
ElectronicsManufacturers
Higher performance and
lower cost
Increasedyield and
productivity
Photon Control is a critical subsystems supplier to Wafer Fabrication Equipment (WFE) manufacturers in the semiconductor and solid-state industries.
Photon Control Value Chain
High-accuracy Fiber Optics
Sensors
Well controlled semiconductor
equipment
Logic and Memory chips
Improved process monitoring,
uniformity and repeatability
Servers, 5G, IoT, AI, VR/AR
Greater accessibility of technology
Blue: Product suppliedOrange: Value delivered by Photon Control
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Device Scaling Trends & the Role of Sensors
Increased manufacturing challenges as device scale and process windows shrink:• More sensors used to monitor and control
critical process parameters• More accurate sensors• Smarter sensors
Trends toward “smart” factories which use more sensors for process monitoring to:• Accelerate time to market• Increase yield • Increase uptime
Logic
3D NAND
ProcessWindow
7nm 5nm 3nm
64L 96L 128L
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Photon Control in Semiconductor Fabs
Photon Control’s sensors are used in semiconductor fabs, mainly in plasma etch and deposition equipment
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Global WFE Market by Process (2017)(in $ billions of USD)
Lam Research
$5.1
Tokyo Electron
$2.8Applied Materials
$2.0
Hitachi $0.4
Others$0.5
Sources Gartner, Market Share: Semiconductor Wafer Fab Equipment, Worldwide, 2017
Plasma Etch Equipment Market = $10.8Total WFE Market = $51
Dry Etch Equipment Market share (2017)(In $ billions of USD)
Photon Control’s Served Market SegmentsPlasma Etch and Deposition accounted for 45% of the WFE market in 2017
Photon Control supplies to the largest WFE suppliers
Deposition$12.3
Litho & Track$10.3
Automation$2.5
Inspection & Met.$5.5
Other $1.9
Thermal & doping
$2.7
Other clean & removal$5.2
Plasma Etch$10.8
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Sub-20nm Logic and 3D NAND are Etch-intensive, increasing Photon Control’s core market
Wafer Fabrication Equipment Segments
0
35
70
105
140
175
40nm 28nm 10nm 7nm
Num
ber o
f etc
h st
eps
2D NAND 3D NAND
3X
2D MOSFET 3D FINFET
LogicTotal Number of Etch Steps
2D NAND vs 3D NANDEquipment Spend for 100,000 wafer starts
3X
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Products & Differentiators
Photon’s Fiber Optic Temperature Sensors in Etch
Our fiber optic temperature sensors are used to measure the electrostatic chuck temperature in plasma etch systems
• The measured temperature is used to maintain a uniform wafer temperature during wafer processing
Why does temperature uniformity matter?
• The performance of an individual chip is very sensitive to the local wafer temperature
• More sensors and higher accuracy sensors enable better wafer temperature control which produces higher yield
• Photon Control’s current accuracy specification is +/-0.5oC
Process Gases
Plasma
ChuckWafer
Photon Control
converter
Process Chamber
Photon Control fiber optic temperatureprobes
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Controller
Plasma Etch Chamber (with strong RF electromagnetic fields)
Plasma
Competitive Advantages
Product performance Best accuracy and long-term stability in harsh environments
Proven in high volume semiconductor manufacturing >100,000 sensors in semiconductor fabs worldwide
Rapid prototypingRapid prototyping helps our customers quickly develop process monitoring solutions
World-class manufacturingIn-house phosphor lab, calibration expertise, ISO clean room
Customer service centricHighly knowledgeable, fast response time, relationship focused
Thermal Couple /
RTD
Pyrometer, IR detector (non-contact)
Fiber Optic: GaAs bandgap
detection
Fiber Optic: Phosphor
Thermometry
Ability to perform on harsh environments
Accu
racy
and
per
form
ance
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Advantages of phosphor fiber optic technology:High accuracy process control and improved yieldLong term stability wafers will not be misprocessedImmune to magnetic fields No interference from RF plasma or microwave sources
Advantages vs. Competing Technologies Our Advantages vs. Direct Competitors
Photon Control’s Temperature Sensor Products
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Single Channel Temperature Converters
MC5 Multichannel Temperature Converters
Fiber Optic Contact and Immersion Probes
• Reduced cost and form factor for multi-probe applications
• FLEXGLOTM technology improves long-term stability and lifetime
• Added self-diagnostic capabilities for predictive maintenance
• EtherCAT communication option
• Highly accurate, stable, and reliable converter
• Field-proven - Over 100,000 in the field for semiconductor manufacturing
• Proprietary optical materials and manufacturing process enables high accuracy and stability within a temperature range of -100°C to +450°C
• In-house calibration expertise ensures tight probe-to-probe repeatability
Photon Control’s Position Sensor Systems
We custom design, develop, and manufacture optical position and displacement sensors that can accurately measure wafer/chuck edge and center locations
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Accurate and repeatable wafer placement and wafer leveling in the process chamber are critical for achieving high yield
Wafer on Chuck in a Generic Process Chamber
ChuckWafer Edge
Ring
Centered (using position sensors)
Higher Yield
Off-center (no position sensors)
Lower Yield
Yield loss
• Precise wafer placement for processing is a critical requirement for high yield
• Photon Control’s position sensors improve precision and repeatability of wafer placement
Financial Information
Key Financial Metrics
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$17.3
$21.0
$27.6
$32.2
$43.8$46.7
$4.4$6.0
$10.5 $10.5
$14.3 $15.425.3%
28.5%
38.2%32.7% 32.6% 32.9%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Revenue
EBITDA
EBITDA Margin
5 year CAGR =
22%
$1.8
$8.1
$12.0
$6.9
$1.5
$12.0
$6.1
$14.1
$20.2
$32.5$34.3
$42.4
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Free cash flow
Cash
Robust Revenue & EBITDA Growth Strong Cash Flow Generation
(in $ millions) (in $ millions)
Stock Information and Analyst Coverage
TSX: PHO
Closing Share Price (Mar 20/19) $1.24
# of Shares Outstanding (Basic) 109M
# of Shares (Fully Diluted) 112M
52-Week High $2.60
52-Week Low $0.84
Market Capitalization (@Mar 20/19) $136M
Cash (@ Dec 31/18) $42M
Debt (@ Dec 31/18) Nil
Analyst Coverage:
Echelon Wealth Partners:Amr Ezzat+1-514-396-3614
GMP Securities:Justin Keywood+1-416-943-6658
Paradigm Capital:Kevin Krishnaratne+1-416-361-6054
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• Photon Control is a critical subsystems supplier to the largest wafer fabrication equipment suppliers for plasma etch and deposition systems
• Growing served available market as more fiber optic sensors used in plasma etch and deposition for advanced devices
• NPI funnel of $40M to continue long-term future growth in revenue and profit
• Market expansion of flagship product, fiber optic temperature sensors, to deposition
• Enviable financial metrics and strong balance sheet
• Cash of $42M to invest in new product development and disruptive technologies, and buy back 5.5M shares in 2019
Key Takeaways
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www.photoncontrol.comTSX: PHO