These technologies are used to enable artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, high performance computing, autonomous vehicles, 5G wireless communication networks and cloud storage.[2]
History
Veeco MS-20 leak detector
Veeco was incorporated in 1945 by two scientists, Frank Raible and Al Nerken, who created the helium leak detector. The company's name "Veeco" stood for Vacuum Electronic Equipment Company. In the 1960s, the original Veeco merged with Lambda, a manufacturer of power supplies, and in the late 1980s, was purchased by British company Unitech.
In 1990, Edward H. Braun, then COO of Veeco, and a group of senior company executives purchased Veeco's instrument business from Unitech in a management buyout. The company again used the Veeco Instruments trade name and completed an initial public offering on the Nasdaq National Market in 1994 (NASDAQ: VECO). The IPO netted the company $27.5 million.[3]
Since going public in 1994, Veeco has completed more than a dozen acquisitions. The company purchased Ion Tech Inc. in 1999 and entered the optical coating market.[4]
In 2001, Veeco purchased Applied EPI, its present-day Molecular Beam Epitaxy group that currently maintains a leadership position in MBE technology worldwide.[5]
In 2003, Veeco purchased Emcore, paving the way for its unique metal organic chemical vapor deposition technologies in the advanced LED, Vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) and photonics markets.[6]
From 2007 to 2018, Veeco invested heavily in ALD research, publishing numerous papers on the topic.
In July 2007, Braun, then 68, became chairman of the board of Veeco, with John R. Peeler, 52, joining the company as chief executive officer. Peeler was formerly president of JDSU's Communications Test and Measurement Division[7]
In 2008, Veeco settled a patent litigation it had brought against Asylum Research Corporation in 2003.[8]
In October 2010, Veeco announced the sale of its metrology business to Bruker Corporation in a cash deal for $229.4 million.[9]
In May 2012, John Peeler became chairman of the board of Veeco.[7]
In 2014, Veeco purchased Solid State Equipment Co., expanding its portfolio of solvent-based wet etch and clean technologies for semiconductor and compound semiconductor markets.[10]
On May 26, 2017, Veeco acquired front-end semiconductor process control equipment manufacturer Ultratech to expand into the advanced packaging market.[11] This added to the portfolio advanced packaging lithography, laser spike annealing and 3D wafer inspection technology used in high volume manufacturing of logic and memory devices. Via the Ultratech purchase, Veeco also acquired Cambridge Nanotech, a Boston-based innovator in atomic layer deposition technology.[12]
In October 2018, Bill Miller was named CEO.[13] Miller previously served as president and has led several growth initiatives within Veeco's business units and operations teams worldwide. In May 2020, changes were made to governance to bring more gender diversity to the board of directors. John Peeler, chairman and former CEO, retired from the board. Richard D’Amore, general partner of North Bridge Venture Partners and previously lead independent director, was appointed as chairman; and Mary Jane Raymond, chief financial officer and treasurer of II-VI Inc., was appointed to the Audit Committee.[14]
In 2020, Veeco succeeded in strengthening its profitability by optimizing R&D and extending core technologies into semiconductor and compound semiconductor markets.[15]
In 2021, Veeco shipped its first LSA101 Laser Spike Annealing System from its facility in San Jose, California facility to a leading semiconductor manufacturer.[16]
In February 2023, it was announced Veeco had acquired the Lund-headquartered manufacturer of CVD epitaxy systems - which enables advanced SiC applications in the electric vehicle market, Epiluvac AB.
Finances
For the fiscal year 2021, Veeco reported annual revenue of $583 million, 28% growth over 2020, driven by semiconductor and data storage performance. This growth came with profitability driving $87 million in non-GAAP operating income and $1.43 or 66% growth in diluted non-GAAP EPS.
Veeco had cash flow from operations of $68 million, a 58% increase over 2020.[17][18]
Year
Revenue in million US$
Gross profit in million US$
2021
583
242
2020
454
194
2019
419
158
2018
542
194
2017
476
176
2016
332
133
2015
447
177
2014
393
135
2013
332
103
2012
516
215
2011
979
474
2010
931
449
2009
282
114
2008
315
123
2007
402
158
Markets
Veeco specializes in thin film process equipment for major technology market sectors,[19] including:
Semiconductor
Compound semiconductor
Data storage
Scientific
Advanced packaging
MEMS and RF filters
Veeco systems are used for advanced materials deposition processes, cleaning and surface preparation, as well as the removal of critical materials. High tech manufacturers that purchase Veeco systems produce devices in high volumes. They also use them to develop next-generation products with the intent of making them more efficient, more cost effective and more advanced.[20]
Products
Front end of line (FEOL) semiconductor systems include:
Laser spike annealing systems for precision doping of materials at a controlled temperature
Ion beam etch tools used in spin torque transfer magnetic random access memory ("STT-MRAM") applications. STT-MRAM has many benefits over traditional random access memory such as its non-volatility, speed, endurance and power consumption.[21]
Atomic layer deposition (ALD) tools for semiconductor, solar and medical devices applications. Veeco is one of the key players in the global ALD market.[22]
Wet etch tools for under-bump metallization and redistribution layer applications
Wet-solvent-based surface preparation tools for photoresist and dry film removal, flux cleaning, particle removal and TSV clean applications
Systems used in the manufacturing of MEMS devices and RF filters include:
Wet etch tools for etching thin films on substrates and sometimes the substrates themselves.[23]
Single-wafer wet clean systems that use a soak-and-spray approach for metal lift-off. This is used in MEMS and compound semiconductor applications. This tool was part of the SSEC acquisition.[24]
Systems used for compound semiconductor applications:
Veeco's MOCVD tools are used for the deposition of III-V compound semiconductor materials like indium phosphide (InP), gallium arsenide (GaAs) and gallium nitride (GaN) in a single crystal layer to form a thin film.[25]
It is used for depositing highly uniform arsenide and phosphide ("As/P") films to create amber and red output colors in LEDs.
Emerging applications for MOCVD include mini-LEDs, and micro-LEDS used in LED-backlit displays. It is also expected to enable VCSELs used for facial recognition applications, as well as GaN-based RF and power semiconductor devices.[25]
Systems used for advanced materials research and industrial applications
Veeco MBE systems are used by scientific research organizations and universities as part of materials science discovery.
At the Nanolab at Eindhoven University of Technology, a Veeco MBE reactor is used to grow epitaxial layers for GaAs-based materials.[26]
At Tufts University, the Veeco GEN Xplore enables the growth of small bandgap materials. https://engineering.tufts.edu/epitaxycore/capabilities/molecular-beam-epitaxy
MBE, wet etch and clean systems are also used to manufacture high power lasers and infrared sensors.
IBD, IBE, PVD, and lapping and dicing tools are used in data storage applications such as hard disk drives. IBD tools deposit thin layers of advanced materials on various substrates to alter how light is reflected and transmitted.[27]
Technology breakthroughs
Veeco has invested in ALD research and supports an ALD science research team, which has published numerous papers on the topic between 2007 and 2018.[28]
For solar cell applications, in 2010, Veeco MOCVD developed a tool that increased cell growth rates resulting in higher throughput without compromising performance.[29]
Facilities
Headquartered in Plainview, New York, Veeco has 15 locations in 11 countries, including:[citation needed]
Somerset, NJ
Horsham, PA
Waltham, MA
San Jose, CA
St. Paul, MN
Munich, Germany
Shanghai, China
Tokyo, Japan
Seoul, Korea
Hsinchu, Taiwan
Bangkok, Thailand
Laguna, Philippines
Singapore
Penang, Malaysia
Lund, Sweden
Related Research Articles
MEMS is the technology of microscopic devices incorporating both electronic and moving parts. MEMS are made up of components between 1 and 100 micrometres in size, and MEMS devices generally range in size from 20 micrometres to a millimetre, although components arranged in arrays can be more than 1000 mm2. They usually consist of a central unit that processes data and several components that interact with the surroundings.
Semiconductor device fabrication is the process used to manufacture semiconductor devices, typically integrated circuits (ICs) such as computer processors, microcontrollers, and memory chips that are present in everyday electronic devices. It is a multiple-step photolithographic and physio-chemical process during which electronic circuits are gradually created on a wafer, typically made of pure single-crystal semiconducting material. Silicon is almost always used, but various compound semiconductors are used for specialized applications.
Epitaxy refers to a type of crystal growth or material deposition in which new crystalline layers are formed with one or more well-defined orientations with respect to the crystalline seed layer. The deposited crystalline film is called an epitaxial film or epitaxial layer. The relative orientation(s) of the epitaxial layer to the seed layer is defined in terms of the orientation of the crystal lattice of each material. For most epitaxial growths, the new layer is usually crystalline and each crystallographic domain of the overlayer must have a well-defined orientation relative to the substrate crystal structure. Epitaxy can involve single-crystal structures, although grain-to-grain epitaxy has been observed in granular films. For most technological applications, single-domain epitaxy, which is the growth of an overlayer crystal with one well-defined orientation with respect to the substrate crystal, is preferred. Epitaxy can also play an important role while growing superlattice structures.
Molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) is an epitaxy method for thin-film deposition of single crystals. MBE is widely used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices, including transistors, and it is considered one of the fundamental tools for the development of nanotechnologies. MBE is used to fabricate diodes and MOSFETs at microwave frequencies, and to manufacture the lasers used to read optical discs.
Applied Materials, Inc. is an American corporation that supplies equipment, services and software for the manufacture of semiconductor chips for electronics, flat panel displays for computers, smartphones, televisions, and solar products. The company also supplies equipment to produce coatings for flexible electronics, packaging and other applications. The company is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and is the second largest supplier of semiconductor equipment in the world based on revenue behind ASML of Netherlands.
A thin film is a layer of material ranging from fractions of a nanometer (monolayer) to several micrometers in thickness. The controlled synthesis of materials as thin films is a fundamental step in many applications. A familiar example is the household mirror, which typically has a thin metal coating on the back of a sheet of glass to form a reflective interface. The process of silvering was once commonly used to produce mirrors, while more recently the metal layer is deposited using techniques such as sputtering. Advances in thin film deposition techniques during the 20th century have enabled a wide range of technological breakthroughs in areas such as magnetic recording media, electronic semiconductor devices, integrated passive devices, LEDs, optical coatings, hard coatings on cutting tools, and for both energy generation and storage. It is also being applied to pharmaceuticals, via thin-film drug delivery. A stack of thin films is called a multilayer.
Surface micromachining builds microstructures by deposition and etching structural layers over a substrate. This is different from Bulk micromachining, in which a silicon substrate wafer is selectively etched to produce structures.
An epitaxial wafer is a wafer of semiconducting material made by epitaxial growth (epitaxy) for use in photonics, microelectronics, spintronics, or photovoltaics. The epi layer may be the same material as the substrate, typically monocrystaline silicon, or it may be a silicon dioxide (SoI) or a more exotic material with specific desirable qualities. The purpose of epitaxy is to perfect the crystal structure over the bare substrate below and improve the wafer surface's electrical characteristics, making it suitable for highly complex microprocessors and memory devices.
Metalorganic vapour-phase epitaxy (MOVPE), also known as organometallic vapour-phase epitaxy (OMVPE) or metalorganic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD), is a chemical vapour deposition method used to produce single- or polycrystalline thin films. It is a process for growing crystalline layers to create complex semiconductor multilayer structures. In contrast to molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE), the growth of crystals is by chemical reaction and not physical deposition. This takes place not in vacuum, but from the gas phase at moderate pressures. As such, this technique is preferred for the formation of devices incorporating thermodynamically metastable alloys, and it has become a major process in the manufacture of optoelectronics, such as Light-emitting diodes, its most widespread application. It was first demonstrated in 1967 at North American Aviation Autonetics Division in Anaheim CA by Harold M. Manasevit.
Chemical beam epitaxy (CBE) forms an important class of deposition techniques for semiconductor layer systems, especially III-V semiconductor systems. This form of epitaxial growth is performed in an ultrahigh vacuum system. The reactants are in the form of molecular beams of reactive gases, typically as the hydride or a metalorganic. The term CBE is often used interchangeably with metal-organic molecular beam epitaxy (MOMBE). The nomenclature does differentiate between the two processes, however. When used in the strictest sense, CBE refers to the technique in which both components are obtained from gaseous sources, while MOMBE refers to the technique in which the group III component is obtained from a gaseous source and the group V component from a solid source.
Soitec is an international company based in France, that manufactures substrates used in the creation of semiconductors.
Lam Research Corporation is an American supplier of wafer-fabrication equipment and related services to the semiconductor industry. Its products are used primarily in front-end wafer processing, which involves the steps that create the active components of semiconductor devices and their wiring (interconnects). The company also builds equipment for back-end wafer-level packaging (WLP) and for related manufacturing markets such as for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).
Indium gallium aluminium nitride is a GaN-based compound semiconductor. It is usually prepared by epitaxial growth, such as metalorganic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD), molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE), pulsed laser deposition (PLD), etc. This material is used for specialist opto-electronics applications, often in blue laser diodes and LEDs.
ASM is a Dutch headquartered multinational corporation that specializes in the design, manufacturing, sales and service of semiconductor wafer processing equipment for the fabrication of semiconductor devices. ASM's products are used by semiconductor manufacturers in front-end wafer processing in their semiconductor fabrication plants. ASM's technologies include atomic layer deposition, epitaxy, chemical vapor deposition and diffusion.
IQE PLC is a British semiconductor company founded 1988 in Cardiff, Wales, which manufactures advanced epitaxial wafers for a wide range of technology applications for wireless, optoelectronic, electronic and solar devices. IQE specialises in advanced silicon and compound semiconductor materials based on gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon. The company is the largest independent outsource producer of epiwafers manufactured by metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy (MOCVD), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD).
Ultratech, Inc. is an international technology company based in San Jose, California, that supplies equipment to global semiconductor fabrication plants, and also makes tools for nanotechnology applications by optical networking, data storage and automotive and display industries. Since May 2017 it has been owned by Veeco.
Atomic layer etching (ALE) is an emerging technique in semiconductor manufacture, in which a sequence alternating between self-limiting chemical modification steps which affect only the top atomic layers of the wafer, and etching steps which remove only the chemically-modified areas, allows the removal of individual atomic layers. The standard example is etching of silicon by alternating reaction with chlorine and etching with argon ions.
Tuomo Suntola is a Finnish physicist, inventor, and technology leader. He is best known for his pioneering research in materials science, developing the thin film growth technique called atomic layer deposition.
Manijeh Razeghi is an Iranian-American scientist in the fields of semiconductors and optoelectronic devices. She is a pioneer in modern epitaxial techniques for semiconductors such as low pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), vapor phase epitaxy (VPE), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), GasMBE, and MOMBE. These techniques have enabled the development of semiconductor devices and quantum structures with higher composition consistency and reliability, leading to major advancement in InP and GaAs based quantum photonics and electronic devices, which were at the core of the late 20th century optical fiber telecommunications and early information technology.
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US$583 million (2021)
