Item 5.02Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers

Chief Executive Officer Steps Down

Amtech Systems, Inc. (the “Company”) and Fokko Pentinga, the Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company, agreed on a transition of leadership of the Company, to which Mr. Pentinga will step down as the Chief Executive Officer, President and a director of the Company effective as of December 6, 2018 (the “Effective Date”). In connection with his impending departure, Mr. Pentinga and the Company have entered into a Separation Agreement and General Release of all Claims, dated November 28, 2018 (the “Separation Agreement”). to the Separation Agreement, Mr. Pentinga will receive the following benefits:

a severance payment of $864,000 in gross, less all customary and appropriate income and employment taxes;

a payment of $458,500 for all other amounts due him;

all of his time-based stock options, consisting of 226,667 options (the “Options”),became fully vested and immediately exercisable. Mr. Pentinga has the right to exercise 122,500 of such Options with an exercise price of $7.01 or less until December 31, 2019.The remaining 104,167 of such Options are exercisable during the 90-day period following the Effective Date; and

certain other benefits as set forth in the Separation Agreement.

The foregoing description of the Separation Agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by the full text of the Separation Agreement, which will be filed as an Exhibit to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for its fiscal year ended September 30, 2018. The terms of the Separation Agreement are consistent with the treatment of Mr.Pentinga’s departure as a termination without cause under the terms of his Employment Agreement with the Company dated June 29, 2012, as amended from time to time (the “Employment Agreement”).

Mr. J.S. Whang, the Company’s Executive Chairman, has agreed to serve as Chief Executive Officer of the Company effective December 6, 2018.