Item 1. Business
Item 1. Business
Business Description and Overview
Headquartered in Plainview, New York, we were organized as a Delaware corporation in 1989. We are a manufacturer of advanced semiconductor process equipment that solves an array of challenging materials engineering problems for our customers. Our comprehensive collection of ion beam, laser annealing, metal organic chemical vapor deposition (“MOCVD”), advanced packaging lithography, single wafer wet processing, molecular beam epitaxy (“MBE”), and atomic layer deposition (“ALD”) technologies play an integral role in the fabrication of key devices that are enabling the 4th industrial revolution of all things connected. Such devices include leading advanced node application processors for mobile devices, thin film magnetic heads for hard disk drives in data storage, photonics devices for 3D sensing, advanced displays and high-speed data communications, and radio frequency (“RF”) filters and power amplifiers for fifth generation (“5G”) networks and mobile electronics. In close partnership with our customers, we combine decades of applications and materials know-how with leading-edge systems engineering to deliver high-volume manufacturing solutions with competitive cost of ownership. Serving a global and highly interconnected customer base, we have comprehensive sales and service operations across the Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America regions to ensure real-time close collaboration and responsiveness.
Our 2022 priorities are:
● Protect: Safety is one of Veeco’s core values. We have taken many steps to protect our employees, customers, suppliers, and stakeholders, and operate safely and successfully throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in the overall resiliency of our business. We have been able to serve our customers without pause and expect to continue to do so while executing on our strategic growth plans. We understand that the culture of the Company can have a direct impact on our performance. We made significant improvements to our culture as measured by a culture survey in 2021 compared to a baseline measured in 2019, and we remain committed to working with employees to continue to strengthen our culture. With safety top of mind and an emphasis on improving our culture, we enter 2022 with a healthy backlog and an improved balance sheet;
● Execute: We believe that our success depends on our ability to successfully execute in challenging environments, recognizing that our customers have high expectations. We are focused on the execution of multiple initiatives, including on-time deliveries, quality, and our on-going customer evaluation programs. We achieved significant revenue growth in 2021 despite a difficult supply chain environment. The Veeco United team worked through material shortages, lead time increases, and labor shortages in our factories as well as those of our suppliers. We are focused on continued execution throughout our entire supply chain in order to meet customer demand. Additionally, we continue to focus on improving the quality of our products and services, in line with our core value of our commitment to never stop improving. Finally, throughout 2021, we increased our emphasis on placing strategic evaluation systems with customers in the semiconductor and compound semiconductor markets, consistent with our growth plans. These systems are provided to customers after significant time spent demonstrating their capabilities in our factory, and represent one of the final stages in our customers’ selection process. We invested in inventory, R&D, and service capability to support these evaluation systems. We are focused on successful outcomes for these evaluations and in continuing the elevated level of evaluation system activity with existing and potential customers;
● Innovate and Invest: We are focused on completing the transition of our San Jose operations to our newly leased facility. This facility is designed for the manufacture of our semiconductor market products, and will double our manufacturing capacity compared to the existing facility. We are also focused on continuing to invest in our service capabilities. As we grow our business, and as our customers add capacity to their
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manufacturing operations, additional investments in service engineers and inventory are required. Finally, we will continue our efforts in product innovation. We have exciting new solutions in our semiconductor and compound semiconductor product development pipeline, which we believe will solve our customers’ difficult materials challenges and enable sustainable growth in the long term; and
● Growth and Profitability: We view the semiconductor and compound semiconductor markets as significant growth opportunities in the near-term and long-term. We expect these markets to be the primary drivers of growth in 2022, driven by strong traction in laser annealing, advanced packaging lithography, EUV mask blank and MOCVD systems. We are focused on executing our backlog and winning additional orders to drive meaningful growth. While we expect expenses to increase as we continue to invest for growth, we are also focused on improving profitability through responsible management of our cost structure, with an emphasis on increasing gross margins.
Markets
Our products are purchased by customers in the following four end-markets: 1) Semiconductor; 2) Compound Semiconductor; 3) Data Storage; and 4) Scientific & Other.
Our array of process equipment systems are used in the production of a broad range of microelectronic components, including logic, dynamic random-access memory (“DRAM”), photonics devices (including laser diodes and micro-LEDs), power electronics, RF filters and amplifiers, magnetic heads for hard disk drives, and other semiconductor devices. Many of our systems are used to deposit advanced materials critical to the operation of the device and some of our systems are used in cleaning and surface preparation as well as the precise removal of critical materials. We are also a leader in systems used in the advanced packaging process flow of microelectronic components such as flip chip, fan-out wafer level packaging (“FOWLP”), and other wafer level packaging approaches, such as heterogeneous integration, used in the modern integration of diverse semiconductor products, especially in consumer electronics. In general, our customers purchase our systems to both produce current-generation devices in volume and to develop next-generation products which deliver more efficient, cost-effective, and advanced technological solutions. We operate in several highly cyclical business environments, and our customers’ buying patterns are dependent upon industry trends and buying patterns for consumer electronics. As our products are sold into multiple markets, the following table describes these markets and the applicable Veeco technologies.
Markets
Description
Applicable Veeco Technologies
Semiconductor
The Semiconductor market refers to early process steps in logic and memory applications where silicon wafers are processed. There are many different process steps in forming patterned wafers, such as deposition, etching, masking, and doping, where the microchips are created but remain on the silicon wafer. As device architectures continue to shrink with advanced nodes, more precise process control is paramount to achieving high yields and competitive cost. One such process step is called Laser Annealing, which uses a very precise method to activate dopants, reduce contact resistance and modify material grain structure. The Veeco laser annealing technology enables our customers to have a lower thermal budget by annealing at higher temperatures over a shorter period of time. This market also includes mask blank production for extreme ultraviolet (“EUV”) lithography with Veeco’s Ion Beam Deposition technology.
Finally, this market also includes Advanced Packaging which refers to a portfolio of wafer-level assembly technologies that enable improved performance of electronic products, such as
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Laser Annealing
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Ion Beam Deposition (“IBD”)
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Ion Beam Etch (“IBE”)
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Wet Processing
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Advanced Packaging Lithography
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smartphones, high-end servers, and graphical processors. Demand for higher performance, smaller form factors, and lower power consumption in applications such as artificial intelligence, mobile devices, consumer electronics, and high-performance computing is driving the adoption of advanced packaging technologies. Veeco serves the advanced packaging market with lithography as well as wet processing equipment.
Compound Semiconductor
The Compound Semiconductor market includes Photonics, Power Electronics, RF Filters and Amplifiers, and Solar applications.
Photonics refers to light source technologies and laser-based solutions for 3D sensing, datacom and telecom applications. This includes micro-LED, laser diodes, edge emitting lasers and vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (“VCSELs”).
Micro-LEDs may be used for next generation advanced displays. A micro-LED display is a new approach which uses an array of red, blue, and green micro-LEDs to directly display an image without motion blur or image retention, and with improved brightness, darker blacks, and wider viewing angles.
Power Electronics refers to semiconductor devices such as rectifiers, inverters and converters for the control and conversion of electric power in growing applications such as fast or wireless charging of consumer electronics and automotive applications.
RF power amplifiers and filters (including surface acoustic wave (“SAW”) and bulk acoustic wave (“BAW”) filters) are used in 5G communications infrastructure, smartphones, tablets, and mobile devices. They make use of radio waves for wireless broadcasting and/or communications.
Solar refers to power obtained by harnessing the energy of the sun through the use of compound semiconductor devices such as photovoltaics.
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Gallium Nitride (“GaN”) MOCVD
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Arsenides/ Phosphides (“As/P”) MOCVD
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Wet Processing
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MBE
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ALD
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IBE
Data Storage
Data Storage refers to the HDD market which provides significant value for mass storage and is an important part of large capacity storage applications. Our systems enable customers to manufacture the magnetic heads for hard disk drives.
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IBD
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IBE
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Physical Vapor Deposition
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Mechanical (Lapping and Dicing)
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Diamond Like Carbon Deposition
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Wet Processing
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Scientific & Other
Scientific & Other refers to advanced materials research and a range of manufacturing applications including optical coatings (laser mirrors, optical filters, and anti-reflective coatings).
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Ion Beam Sputtering for optical coatings
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MBE for specialized laser and sensor devices
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Wet Processing for sensors
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ALD for a variety of applications
System Products
Laser Annealing Systems
Our laser annealing systems meet the industry demand for ultra-short time-scale annealing, heating the wafer up to temperatures just below the silicon melting point over a range of timeframes (hundreds of microseconds), enabling thermal annealing solutions at the most advanced semiconductor process nodes. This unique annealing technology provides a solution to the difficult challenge of fabricating ultra-shallow junctions and highly activated source/drain contacts at advanced logic nodes. In addition, our proprietary hardware design enables outstanding temperature uniformity across the wafer and die, by minimizing the pattern-density effect, thus reducing absorption variations.
We are also continuing to develop next generation melt anneal technology targeted for memory devices and annealing advanced logic devices at advanced nodes. As devices scale, achieving performance targets has become a challenge. To continue the roadmap, the industry is looking at new materials and the use of thermal processes that require nanosecond time-scale thermal annealing with temperatures exceeding the melting point. It is believed that nanosecond annealing will be required to meet the device targets at future nodes.
Ion Beam Deposition and Etch Systems
Our NEXUS ® Ion Beam systems are used to deposit and etch thin film layers for multiple end applications in the Semiconductor, Data Storage, RF and other various emerging markets. These systems utilize Veeco’s proven gridded ion source technology which delivers a charged ion beam directed at a substrate for the etch application and at a sputter target for the deposition application. Our NEXUS ® IBD system has a leading position in multiple markets including EUV mask blank manufacturing in which it enables our customers to deposit multilayers with high precision and ultra-low defects which is essential for EUV lithography. Our ion sources and grid technology are incorporated into etch systems used to pattern magnetic materials for the 300mm Semiconductor STT-MRAM market. The IBD systems are also critical in the manufacture of hard disk drive magnetic heads where they are used to deposit various magnetic and oxide layers and deliver best-in-class film properties. Our NEXUS ® IBE systems are used to precisely etch complex features on materials which are challenging to pattern by traditional reactive ion etching techniques. These systems are widely used in the data storage industry for patterning of magnetic and oxide materials and are essential for forming the precise shape of the magnetic head. The NEXUS ® systems may be included on our cluster system platform to allow either parallel or sequential deposition/etch processes.
Our Lancer TM IBE system is used for etching of SAW and BAW devices in the RF filter market and various waveguide patterning steps for AR/VR markets where their best-in-class film uniformity is a key advantage.
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Our SPECTOR ® Ion Beam Sputtering system was developed for high precision optical coatings and offers manufacturers state of the art optical thickness monitoring, improved productivity, and target material utilization, for cutting-edge optical interference coating applications. We also provide a broad array of ion beam sources.
Advanced Packaging Lithography
We have a leading position in the Advanced Packaging lithography equipment market for applications such as FOWLP, Flip Chip (including Copper Pillar), Fan In Wafer Lever Packaging, 3D stacking, interposers and embedded die. The Advanced Packaging market is driven by the need for improved performance, reduced power consumption, and the ability to image smaller geometries for mobile and automotive applications. These applications continue to demand increasingly complex packaging techniques and heterogeneous device integration from integrated device manufacturers (“IDMs,”), Foundries, and outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (“OSAT”) companies. Our Advanced Packaging tools are designed to optimize productivity for leading-edge 200mm and 300mm Advanced Packaging applications by delivering proven reliability and low cost of ownership in high-volume manufacturing environments. Our products are known for best-in-class yield coupled with outstanding resolution and depth of focus.
Single Wafer Wet Processing
We offer single wafer wet processing, and surface preparation systems which target growth opportunities in RF filters and amplifiers in the Compound Semiconductor market, as well as advanced packaging applications in the Semiconductor market. The WaferStorm ® platform is based on our unique ImmJET™ technology, which provides improved performance at a lower cost of ownership than conventional wet bench-only or spray-only approaches. This highly flexible platform targets solvent-based cleaning applications that require a significant level of process control and flexibility. The WaferEtch ® platform provides highly uniform, selective etching with onboard end-point detection for improved process control and yield in bumping applications. In addition, we have developed a state-of-the-art solution with the WaferEtch ® platform to address the requirements of wafer thinning.
Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition Systems
MOCVD production systems are used to make GaN and As/P-based devices for applications including power electronics, RF devices, specialty LED, display, and many other photonics applications. Our proven TurboDisc ® technology is at the heart of our MOCVD systems and is the key to enabling best-in-class deposition uniformity, yield performance and cost per wafer savings for our customers with a combined advantage of high operating uptime and low maintenance costs. Our Lumina ® platform is used for As/P deposition, and features long campaigns and low defectivity for exceptional yield and flexibility. Our Propel ® series enables the development of highly-efficient GaN-based power electronics, RF devices and advanced GaN-on-silicon micro-LEDs. The Propel ® system offers 200mm and fully-automated 300mm technology and incorporates single-wafer reactor technology for outstanding film uniformity, yield, and device performance.
Molecular Beam Epitaxy Systems
MBE is the process of precisely depositing epitaxially-aligned atomically-thin crystalline layers, or epilayers, of elemental materials onto a substrate in an ultra-high vacuum environment. We are a leading supplier of MBE systems worldwide.
Our MBE systems, sources, and components are used to develop and manufacture compound semiconductor devices in a wide variety of applications such as high-power fiber lasers, infrared detectors, mobile phones, radar systems, high efficiency solar cells, and basic materials science research. The GENxplor ® MBE system creates high quality epitaxial layers and is ideal for cutting-edge research on a wide variety of materials including GaAs, antimonides, nitrides, and oxides on 3” diameter substrates.
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Atomic Layer Deposition Systems
ALD is a thin-film deposition method in which a film is deposited on a substrate uniformly with precise control down to the atomic scale. Veeco offers a full suite of ALD systems for non-semiconductor front-end production applications across a wide range of markets and applications such as energy, optical, electronics, micro-electro mechanical systems (“MEMS”), nanostructures, and biomedical. We have recently developed the Firebird ® ALD system, a fully automated tool capable of managing fragile wafers in a continuous operational sequence.
Other Systems
We have other deposition systems including Physical Vapor Deposition, Diamond-Like Carbon Deposition, and Chemical Vapor Deposition Systems primarily sold to the data storage market. In addition, we have mechanical systems such as saws and lappers for the data storage industry as well as the power semiconductor market. Finally, we have Gas-mixing systems primarily sold to the semiconductor market.
Sales and Service
We sell our products and services worldwide through various strategically located facilities in the United States, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. We believe that our customer service organization is a significant factor in our success. We provide service and support on a warranty, service contract, and an individual service-call basis. We believe that offering timely support creates stronger relationships with customers. Revenue from the sales of parts, upgrades, service, and support represented approximately 28%, 30%, and 26% of our net sales for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively. Parts and upgrade sales represented approximately 21%, 23%, and 19% of our net sales for those years, respectively, and service and support sales were 7%, 7%, and 7% respectively.
Customers
We sell our products to many of the world’s semiconductor IDMs and Foundries, OSAT, HDD, and photonics manufacturers, as well as research centers and universities. We rely on certain principal customers for a significant portion of our sales. Sales to Western Digital and TDK Headway each separately accounted for more than 10% of our total net sales in 2021; and sales to Seagate Technology accounted for more than 10% of our total net sales in 2020 and 2019. If any principal customer discontinues its relationship with us or suffers economic difficulties, our business prospects, financial condition, and operating results could be materially and adversely affected.
Research and Development
Our research and development functions are focused on the timely creation of new products and enhancements to existing products, both of which are necessary to maintain our competitive position. We collaborate with our customers to align our technology and product roadmaps to customer requirements. Our research and development activities take place at our facilities in San Jose, California; Plainview, New York; Horsham, Pennsylvania; Somerset, New Jersey; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Waltham, Massachusetts.
Suppliers
We outsource certain functions to third parties, including the manufacture of several of our systems. While we rely on our outsourcing partners to perform their contracted functions, we maintain some level of internal manufacturing capability for these systems. Refer to Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” for a description of risks associated with our reliance on suppliers and outsourcing partners.
Backlog
Our backlog consists of orders for which we received a firm purchase order, a customer-confirmed shipment date generally within twelve months, and a deposit, when required. Our backlog increased to $440.2 million at December 31, 2021 from $366.0 million at December 31, 2020.
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Competition
In each of the markets that we serve, we face competition from established competitors, some of which have greater financial, engineering, and marketing resources than we do, as well as from smaller competitors. In addition, many of our products face competition from alternative technologies, some of which are more established than those used in our products. Significant factors for customer selection of our tools include system performance, accuracy, repeatability, ease of use, reliability, cost of ownership, and technical service and support. None of our competitors compete with us across all of our product lines.
Our principal competitors include: Aixtron; Applied Materials; Canon; Grand Plastics Technology Corporation; Mattson; Screen Semiconductor Solutions; and Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment.
Intellectual Property
Our success depends, in part, on our proprietary technology, and we have over 400 patents in the United States and other countries.
We have patents and exclusive and non-exclusive licenses to patents owned by others covering certain of our products, which we believe provide us with a competitive advantage. We have a policy of seeking patents on inventions concerning new products and improvements as part of our ongoing research, development, and manufacturing activities. We believe that there is no single patent or exclusive or non-exclusive license to patents owned by others that is critical to our operations, as the success of our business depends primarily on the technical expertise, innovation, customer satisfaction, and experience of our employees. Refer to Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” for a description of risks associated with intellectual property.
The Veeco United Team
Veeco’s global workforce spans twelve countries around the world. At the end of 2021, we had 1,091 employees with 240 located in the Asia-Pacific region, 40 in the EMEA region, and 811 in the United States. Approximately 24% of our employees are involved in research and development; 55% are involved in operations, manufacturing, service, and quality assurance; and 21% are involved in sales, order administration, marketing, finance, information technology, general management, and other administrative functions. Our success depends on our ability to attract, retain, and motivate employees. We compete for talent with other companies and organizations. We consider our relations with the Veeco United Team to be favorable. We are subject to various federal, state, and local regulations, and regularly monitor all key employment activities, such as hiring, termination, pay and working practices to ensure compliance with such regulations. In addition, we supplement the Veeco United Team with contractors and other temporary workers.
Our Core Values
All Veeco employees are expected to honor our core values, which define the way we conduct our business in everyday actions and choices and form the foundation of our culture:
● We will always put our CUSTOMERS first
● We will never compromise on SAFETY
● We will always demonstrate RESPECT
● We will never stop IMPROVING
● We will always be ACCOUNTABLE
● We will never forget that DIVERSITY and INCLUSION makes us stronger
Employment, Recruitment and Development
Our recruitment programs are regionally focused, and hiring is done at a local level to ensure compliance with applicable regulations. To ensure diversity within our workforce, we advertise job openings and source candidates broadly to attract a diverse candidate pool. As a leader in our industry, we are able to attract a strong candidate pool and have been
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successful in filling vacancies. In fiscal 2021, we hired 223 employees, 181 of whom were within the United States, 41 of whom were in the Asia-Pacific region, and 4 of whom were in the EMEA region.
We track and report key talent metrics including workforce demographics, talent pipeline and diversity. We invest in professional development programs to provide opportunities for individuals to advance their careers in either technical/individual contributor or leadership tracks. Many of our training and development programs are offered on-line for the benefit of employees located around the world. Additional focus is placed on the development of future leaders and we leverage a talent review process where high-potential and high-performing employees are assessed for future leadership roles as part of our succession management process. Since turnover is an important indicator of employee satisfaction, we closely monitor turnover statistics. Our 12-month rolling average for voluntary turnover at December 31, 2021 was approximately 9.2%. Our employee average tenure is more than 8 years.
Employee Engagement
The engagement and satisfaction of the Veeco United Team is critical to our culture and our success. In 2019, we conducted a formal employee survey designed to assess global employee engagement, leadership, work environment and culture. 91% of our employees participated in the survey, itself an indicator of a high level of employee engagement. Participants provided over 2,000 responses to open-ended questions. The findings from this survey established an agenda for various initiatives designed to strengthen our Company. In 2021, we conducted a second formal employee survey, using the same survey instrument. Approximately 90% of employees participated in the survey and nearly 2,000 responses were provided to open-ended questions. We saw significant improvements across all survey areas, and we remain committed to working with employees to strengthen the Company’s culture. In addition, our executives conduct regular meetings with our global workforce enabling all employees to engage with senior leaders and ask questions in open Q&A sessions. Finally, we maintain and regularly remind our employees about our confidential third-party hotline service that can be utilized to share their concerns.
Compensation Philosophy
Our compensation philosophy is targeted to support our employees’ financial, physical, and mental health and well-being. We utilize third-party benchmarking surveys to ensure that our total compensation packages are competitive. We help employees share in the success of the Company through various programs including an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”), equity compensation, profit sharing and bonus plans. In addition to providing our employees with competitive compensation packages, we offer benefits designed to meet the needs of employees and their families, including paid time off, medical, dental and vision coverage, disability income protection, life insurance, retirement savings contributions, and more. Veeco pays the majority or all of the costs for many of these benefits.
Diversity and Inclusion
We are committed to building and sustaining a culture of diversity and inclusion where our people can be their authentic selves and are encouraged to reach their full potential. Our Veeco team, like the technologies we enable, is a rich combination of diverse individuals coming together as Veeco United to make a material difference for our people, our customers, and the world. As a global technology company, we recognize that a diverse employee population makes Veeco stronger, more innovative, and a more engaging place to work. We are always striving to attract talented individuals from a global candidate pool.
In the second quarter of 2021, Veeco established a Diversity and Inclusion Council. The Council, composed of diverse Veeco colleagues from many different parts of the Company, represents Veeco’s ongoing commitment to inclusion of all genders, sexual orientations, races, ethnic origins, religions, and diversity of thought. The team has recently established Veeco’s Diversity and Inclusion Mission Statement and Charter. The charter affirms our commitment to building awareness, enhancing community partnerships, addressing diversity in our recruiting and hiring practices, empowering employees to promote D&I initiatives, and identifying opportunities to have meaningful engagements with peers and the leadership team. We are excited to continue developing initiatives to promote and celebrate diversity at Veeco.
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Employee Health and Safety, Pandemic Response
We are committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace for all employees. We accomplish this through strict compliance with applicable laws and regulations regarding workplace safety, including recognition and control of workplace hazards, tracking injury and illness rates, utilizing a global travel health program, and maintaining detailed emergency and disaster recovery plans.
Our highest priorities throughout the pandemic were, and continue to be, the health and well-being of our employees, customers, suppliers, and stakeholders. From the beginning of the pandemic, through the recent challenges posed by the acceleration of coronavirus variants, we have taken precautions to protect employees, visitors, and customers while minimizing disruption to our business. Our facilities remained operational as an “essential business” throughout the pandemic. However, we implemented rigorous health and safety protocols at our manufacturing facilities, including extensively and frequently disinfecting our facilities, limiting access to our facilities, checking temperatures of individuals entering our facilities, staggering shifts to minimize employee overlap in gowning areas, and providing protective equipment in order to minimize the risks to our employees. In addition, we required many of our employees to work from home wherever possible. We protected employees, customers, and stakeholders by providing remote meetings, demos, and service, whenever possible. Our Veeco United team was committed to remaining flexible and responsive throughout the pandemic. Our team monitored and responded quickly to local, state, and federal guidance related to the pandemic. We developed a COVID-19 Pledge to describe all the measures we implemented in our facilities to keep employees working on-site safe throughout the pandemic.
Available Information
Our corporate website address is www.veeco.com. All filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including our Annual Report on Form 10-K, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, our Current Reports on Form 8-K, our proxy statements and any amendments thereto filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, are available for free in the Investor Relations section of our website as soon as reasonably practicable after they are filed with or furnished to the SEC. The reference to our website address does not constitute inclusion or incorporation by reference of the information contained on our website in this Form 10-K or other filings with the SEC, and the information contained on our website is not part of this document.
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Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.