The company Intex, Inc. was founded in Tucson, Arizona in 2000 as a successor to the Norwegian company Patinor A/S and the Russian company Patinor Coatings Ltd. Intex, Inc.’s main field of expertise is in the processing of nanostructured, amorphous carbon and diamond layers as well as thin layer processing in general. At this, infrared emitters of the MIRL series are the first of their sort for commercial use. A sales goal of 100,000 emitters has been set for 2006.
Patinor A/S is now called DNM (Diamond Nanomachines A/S) and was spun off in 2005 to concentrate on the production of MEMS, sensors, and actuators. The original Patinor Coatings in Moscow is now an affiliate of Intex, Inc. and remains the technology center of the company. The geographic location of this “think tank” is a strategic one as Russia has led the world market in the field of plasma technology and, in particular, in the production of amorphous diamond layers since the ‘80s. The experiences gathered by Russian scientists are being further developed. 
The development of Intex would not have been possible without its chairman Terje Skotheim. Terje Skotheim combines commercial vigor and scientific reputation in a rare manner. A simple Internet search for Terje Skotheim using the Google search engine yielded approximately 1070 hits, although the majority of the hits refer to the fact that he edited the “Handbook of Conducting Polymers.”
Intex sees itself more as a specialist of thin layer technology than it does as a manufacturer of components and concentrates, therefore, on its main field of expertise by working to develop the individual processes involved in this technology. This is unfortunately easier said than done when starting out and is the main reason that production of the thus far approximately 10,000 emitters sold has taken place in Moscow. Intex, Inc.’s goal is to complete the move of all MEMS processes including the subsequent thin layer processes to an ISO certified environment in Norway in the course of the year in 2006 and also to get the corresponding packaging process on its professional (proverbial) feet. With thermal components this can be a tricky process. For exactly this reason, the packaging process has not been moved to the Far East.