Veeco Instruments Inc. (Nasdaq: VECO) announced the introduction of the TurboDisc® MaxBright™ Gallium Nitride (GaN) Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) Multi-Reactor System for production of high-brightness light-emitting diodes (HB LEDs). MaxBright has already been accepted by a leading LED manufacturer and Veeco is currently shipping MaxBright systems to additional top manufacturers in Korea, Taiwan and China.

MaxBright leverages Veeco’s market-leading Uniform FlowFlange® technology and automation expertise by combining multiple, new, high-throughput MOCVD reactors in a modular two- or four-reactor cluster architecture. The MaxBright reactors, based on the production-proven K465i, feature both expanded wafer capacity and advanced, proprietary, closed-loop, thermal control technology. These reactors achieve 25% higher throughput than the standard K465i, while extending proven performance advantages – uniformity, repeatability and material quality. The MaxBright MOCVD system offers industry-leading wafer capacity of up to 216 x 2”, 56 x 4”, 24 x 6” or 12 x 8” wafers. In addition, seamless recipe transfer from K465i to MaxBright enables customers to achieve rapid production start.

According to William J. Miller, Ph.D., Executive Vice President of Veeco’s Compound Semiconductor Business, “MaxBright’s value proposition is clear: it’s the highest productivity MOCVD system for HB LED manufacturing on the market. The architecture enables single chamber or multi-chamber layer growth capability, increasing process flexibility for demanding LED structures. MaxBright’s compact architecture also enables a footprint efficiency gain of up to 2.5 times standalone MOCVD systems. Overall, MaxBright delivers a 500% productivity gain compared to the K465i in a flexible and compact package.”

John R. Peeler, Veeco’s Chief Executive Officer, added, “Veeco has dramatically accelerated our MOCVD technology investment and new product development programs to further reduce LED manufacturing costs. We are excited to launch this new, high productivity system as part of our multi-generational roadmap for improving MOCVD process capability and capital efficiency. MaxBright will enable the industry to accelerate its transition to LED lighting. In 2010, the K465i became the market-leading MOCVD system. And now, MaxBright further extends Veeco’s product leadership position as the most productive and lowest cost of ownership MOCVD tool on the market.”