News

21 January 2010

 

Veeco awarded $4m in R&D matching funds from DOE solid-state lighting manufacturing grant

Epitaxial deposition, process, and metrology equipment maker Veeco Instruments Inc of Plainview NY, USA has been awarded $4m in R&D matching funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to support high-efficiency solid-state lighting (SSL) projects.

Veeco says that its proposal was focused on driving down the cost of high-brightness LEDs through the advancement of its metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) technology. The overall objective of the two-year program is to develop high-volume MOCVD systems that provide a four-fold reduction in the cost of epitaxial growth for LED devices, with the ultimate goal of a ten-fold reduction in LED costs. Veeco is partnering with Sandia National Laboratories on the project.

The funding will enable Veeco to speed up development of its next-generation MOCVD systems, says CEO John Peeler. The funding should also support the retention and creation of jobs in Veeco’s facilities in Plainview, NY and Somerset, NJ, adds Peeler, who acknowledges support from congressmen Steve Israel (representing New York’s 2 nd Congressional District) and Rush Holt (representing New Jersey’s 12 th Congressional District). Veeco currently employs more than 350 staff in its Plainview and Somerset locations.

“This Recovery Act funding for Veeco will create new jobs in our growing clean technology industry while helping develop new technologies that will save American consumers money,” says Israel. “Boosting efficiency is all about giving consumers a strong return on investment," he adds. "In a few years, LED lighting will be everywhere, and New Jersey should be in the forefront of creating the jobs that will make it happen,” adds Holt.

In total, the DOE awarded more than $37m in funding for solid-state lighting programs. Veeco's proposal was one of eight selected as part of US Manufacturing funding opportunity announcement DE-FOA-0000057, comprising projects focused on achieving significant cost reductions and enhancing quality through improvements in SSL manufacturing equipment, processes or monitoring techniques. Projects address the technical challenges that must be overcome before prices fall to a level where solid-state lighting will be competitive with existing lighting on a first-cost basis. The total value of Manufacturing selections is $23.5m; the performers will provide an average of 51% of the total project value of $47.7m as cost-share.

See: Veeco Company Profile

Search: Veeco MOCVD HB-LEDs SSL

Visit: www.veeco.com

Visit: www1.eere.energy.gov