Veeco Instruments Inc. (Nasdaq: VECO) announced today that CEA-Leti, a world-renowned research lab based in Grenoble, France, has selected Veeco’s TurboDisc® K465i Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) system for its program with Aledia, its nanowire-LED partner.

Aledia is a start-up company spun out of the CEA-Leti labs in 2011, and based at the CEA site. It counts among its three founders two former CEA researchers, Xavier Hugon and Philippe Gilet. Aledia’s goal is to manufacture 3D nanowire-based LEDs for solid-state lighting applications on thin silicon wafer substrates, of 8 inches or greater in diameter, at a cost significantly below that of conventional planar LEDs. Nanowires are thin crystalline structures that, when electrically charged, can emit a broader spectrum of light than conventional LEDs, and can be grown on industry-standard silicon substrates. Aledia’s nanowire technology was originally developed at CEA-Leti, and Aledia and CEA-Leti continue to develop nanowire technology in close cooperation.

Fabrice Geiger, Head of CEA-Leti’s Silicon Technology Division, commented, “We are confident that Veeco’s MOCVD system is the right equipment to help make this technology successful.”

According to Giorgio Anania, Aledia’s President and Chief Executive Officer, “The TurboDisc reactor will be an important element of our strategy to take this potentially game-changing technology towards the commercialization phase. In partnership with CEA-Leti, we selected Veeco because our analysis indicated that at this time their MOCVD systems showed the best financial returns for 8 inch wafer production on the market.”

William J. Miller, Ph.D, Veeco’s Executive Vice President, commented “We are looking forward to working with CEA-Leti and Aledia on their efforts to commercialize nanowire LED technology, which shows promise to accelerate the industry’s roadmap towards cheaper and more efficient LEDs.”

About CEA-Leti

CEA-Leti is one of the top research institutes in Europe, with 1700 researchers and a 250 million Euro budget focused on basic research publications, applied research patents, pilot line prototypes and mass production products. CEA-Leti has over 1,880 patents in its portfolio, has created over 50 start-ups and spin offs, has 47 common laboratories with industrial partners and 365 industrial partners around the world. For further information visit www.leti.fr/en/.

About Aledia

Aledia is a development-stage company developing the next generation of LEDs using its disruptive WireLED® nanowire technology. This technology allows making LEDs on large-area silicon wafers that significantly reduce the cost of making the LEDs and enable them to be manufactured in existing high-volume silicon CMOS foundries. For further information please visit www.aledia.com.

About Veeco

Veeco’s process equipment solutions enable the manufacture of LEDs, power electronics, hard drives, MEMS and　wireless chips. We are the market leader in MOCVD, MBE, Ion Beam and other advanced thin film process technologies. Our high performance systems drive innovation in energy efficiency, consumer electronics and network storage and allow our customers to maximize productivity and achieve lower cost of ownership. For information on our company, products and worldwide service and support, please visit www.veeco.com.