FAQ

Cevians is registered per International Traffic in Arms Regulations ("ITAR," 22 CFR 120-130) for the export and temporary import of defense articles and services.

Yes, Cevians is considered a small business in accordance with the U.S. 13 CFR Part 121. The company was founded in 2015 when a team of managers acquired assets from Wamco Inc. Cevians is 100% owned by U.S. person interests.

Cevians is an ISO 9001:2015 AS9100D registered company for the design, manufacture, and service of ruggedized AMLCD displays and optical products.

Today, Cevians manufactures the vast majority of its products entirely in California, with over 90% of our products made in the United States. We also bring the benefit of exclusive partnerships for the development of strategic technologies with Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese manufacturers through relationships that have been developed over decades of collaboration since 1968.

We own what we make. We design and manufacture our own technology and products to bring the only customized vertical integration of breakthrough optical and display solutions to market. From molecules to systems, we can customize every material and component to bring the highest performing solutions to our clients, while concurrently minimizing the acquisition cost and time to market.

Yes, for three decades we have performed molecular designs and chemistry development. These materials are unique, proprietary, and can only be obtained at Cevians. The chemistries we have developed include a portfolio of over 15 glass formulations and 30 organic chemistries with materials that are synthesized in California using advanced and complex processes.

We support tier-one OEMs with advanced technologies. This includes the production and development of custom and standardized materials and solutions and the research and development of new solutions with a path to market. Our vertically integrated solutions produce the highest quality of agile products on the micro and macro scale of design and manufacturing that can accommodate rapid, small volume products and larger, long-term productions. While Cevians possess advanced technologies and capabilities, we usually do not get involved in early-stage ventures.

Yes, our product integration process ensures that products are developed with the manufacturing volume in mind. Our equipment, supply chains, and resources are established to support scaled volume requirements which are often easier to accomplish than small volume requirements.

Yes, our engineers have decades of experience in critical aerospace applications that require certification to design assurance level (DAL) A.

We essentially custom design and manufacture all products. While we offer a number of standard products that are broadly used in the industry, almost all of our products have been designed and manufactured for one customer and one particular application. Our team is an engineering and manufacturing capability extension to our customers’ business.

Cevians has a very long-term perspective on our product offerings. In most cases, our customers are committed to aircraft platforms that will be in service for decades. The cost to resource and requalify is extremely high and even more difficult as time passes. As a result, the company has a very long-term view in its product support offerings made possible due to Cevians’ highly vertically integrated structure.

A cevian is a line that intersects both a triangle's vertex and also the side that is opposite to that vertex. It represents our alignment and focus on achieving our goals, and a straight and direct approach to conducting business with precision, clarity, and integrity. This geometric reference is also a reflection of our technical relevance to light direction and light management.

We customize our products at the molecular level with commercially available, internally modified, or fully customized formulations. There are a number of core chemistries involved in the optical bonding processes to optimize the performance of the products for specific applications. We strategically select liquid and dry bonding materials in a number of material families, including epoxide, urethane, silicone, and acrylate.

Cevians develops AMLCDs in accordance with proven guidelines of its manufacturing partner’s capabilities. The AMLCD is designed for specific resolutions, pixel size, color, sizes, finishes, thickness, driving electronics. We design and manufacture aSi and LTPS TFT for sizes up to 24”x24” on a state-of-the-art GEN 3.5 manufacturing facility.

Cevians has pioneered high contrast display performance for decades. The company has been involved in early technology developments since CRT displays were integrated in cockpits. With persistent and groundbreaking innovation, Cevians continues to elevate performance specifications for the most advanced cockpit systems, including the F-35.

Yes, Cevians is certified ISO 9001-2015:AS9100D for the design, manufacturing, and servicing of all of its products. Cevians’ highly vertically integrated organization guarantees products that are made in the US, with the design and manufacturing processes performed in our Montreal and Costa Mesa offices.

Cevians has a number of testing capabilities including temperature, temperature shock, humidity, salt, fog, solar radiations, and impact testing. Other tests such as electromagnetic interference, vibration, and explosive atmosphere are performed at local partners’ laboratories.

Yes, all our products satisfy the requirements of RoHs and REACH.

Yes, Cevians is primarily a custom design and manufacturing company with 90% of our products manufactured for one application and one customer. We work closely with customers to define requirements, design, validate, and qualify products. Cevians has extensive material, components, and formulation databases developed over the last 35 years that enables rapid and optimal product development.

Yes, Cevians has developed a vast number of electro-mechanical capabilities to support its Displays Business Unit. As a result, our optical products have benefited from expertise that is generally not available to other optics and thin-film coating companies. This added expertise includes mechanical engineering, system engineering, electrical engineering, hardware, and software development.

Yes, Cevians is familiar with a wide range of glass and polymeric materials. We can process your material in accordance with our inventory management procedures that identify and accounts for your material at all times.

Cevians’ NVIS products and materials are certified to MIL-STD-3009 testing requirements. All optical testing is performed internally with high-performance equipment traceable to the U.S. National Institute of Standard and Technology.

For most requirements, the specifications are identical. MIL-STD-85762A continues to be used in large part due to the requirements and test method of high ambiance contrast which is not a part of MIL-STD-3009. MIL-STD-3009, however, includes new NVIS chromaticity definitions and requirements that are used in certain situations.

No. The current radiance limitations in MIL-STD-3009 and MIL-L-85762A were defined at a time when display technologies were mostly emissive type (CRT and TFEL), with no energy in the black screen area, and when the number of displays was limited. In today’s cockpit environment with extended display surfaces using transmissive AMLCDs with NIR contribution in black screen area, the overall NIR contribution is increased in the cockpit and limits night vision goggle performance. BlackBackgroundTM is a more stringent NVIS radiance requirement. All BlackBackgroundTM compliant displays are NVIS compliant, however, compliance to MIL-STD-3009 might not be BlackBackgroundTM compliant.

The military standard specifies a maximum level of radiance in order to limit the impact on night vision goggles. Specific requirements will usually identify a particular chromaticity. With goggles having sensitivity at higher wavelength including in the red portion of the visible spectrum, the sharpness of the attenuation in the red wavelengths will allow higher red content and thus provide for a more vivid red.

No. Unfortunately, while the material or components will perform to the level of compliance, the designer needs to consider several factors during product engineering. It is very common that NVIS components are integrated into a design where other materials in the assembly will fluoresce. The fluorescence phenomena follows a typical Stoke reaction where the lower wavelength energy emitted from a compliant NVIS light source is absorbed by other materials, generally plastics or paints. The chemical content of these materials will absorb that higher frequency energy and re-emit light at lower frequencies and higher wavelengths which can affect the radiance contribution.