Veeco Instruments Inc., announced today that Sanan Optoelectronics Co. Ltd., the largest manufacturer of full color LEDs in China, has placed a large multi-tool order for Veeco's K465i(TM) and E475(TM) TurboDisc(R) Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) Systems. The equipment is for Sanan's new LED fab in Wuhu, Anhui Province for the manufacturing of high brightness light emitting diodes (HB LEDs). Veeco booked the order earlier this month.

Mr. Simon Lin, CEO of Sanan, commented "Our new location in Wuhu will be China's, and perhaps the world's, largest manufacturing and research center for LED wafers and chips. We selected Veeco's K465i and E475 MOCVD systems because they are simply the best choice for high volume production of LEDs. Given the increased demand for LEDs in such applications as general illumination, TV backlight and outdoor displays, we intend to ramp our production quickly with Veeco as our chosen partner." Sanan announced recently that it plans to invest RMB 12 billion (approx. $1.7 billion USD) to build a LED manufacturing facility in Wuhu. According to Mr. Lin, "As we have commented in the past, it is our plan to purchase 200 MOCVD systems over the next 3 to 4 years."

Bill Miller, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, General Manager of Veeco's MOCVD Operations commented, "We are gratified that we can continue our long-standing relationship with Sanan as their preferred MOCVD supplier for their new world-class LED production facility. We believe that the China market will drive significant advancement of the LED industry and Veeco, as the market-leading equipment provider in China, is well positioned to benefit from this growth."

With superior wavelength uniformity and excellent run-to-run repeatability, the production-proven K465i extends Veeco's lead in capital efficiency - the number of good wafers per day for each capital dollar - for high volume LED manufacturers. The K465i provides ease-of-tuning for fast process optimization on wafer sizes up to 8 inches and fast tool recovery time after maintenance. The TurboDisc E475 As/P MOCVD System is engineered for high-volume production of red, orange and yellow HB-LEDs, and offers a level of process control and reliability unmatched by competing MOCVD technologies.