Veeco has received an R&D 100 Award for its SPECTOR-HT Ion Beam Deposition (IBD) System. Initiated in 1962 and called the "Oscars of Innovation," the R&D Awards, issued by R&D Magazine, recognize and celebrate the top 100 technology products of the year.

The R&D 100 Awards have identified revolutionary technologies newly introduced to the market over the last 50 years. Many of these have become household names, helping shape everyday life for many Americans. These include the flashcube (1965), the automated teller machine (1973), the halogen lamp (1974), the fax machine (1975), the liquid crystal display (1980), the Kodak Photo CD (1991), the Nicoderm anti-smoking patch (1992), Taxol anticancer drug (1993), lab on a chip (1996), and HDTV (1998). Winning products are selected on the basis of their importance, uniqueness, and usefulness by a panel of technical experts.

The SPECTOR-HT is used to create precision thin film coatings for the optical market for applications such as laser machining, telecommunications, manufacturing of laser diodes, heads up displays and laser guidance systems.

"Veeco is honored to acquire this R&D 100 Award that recognizes excellence and innovation in technology, and celebrates achievement," expressed William J. Miller, Ph.D, Executive Vice President of Veeco. "The SPECTOR-HT provides manufacturers the advantages of ion beam sputtering technology, which comes with stable deposition rates, high purity, high density and low roughness films; combining for stable low optical loss films in a robust package that significantly boosts throughput and lowers cost of ownership."