Plainview lighting manufacturer gets $4M federal grant

Plainview-based lighting tool maker Veeco Instruments has been awarded a $4 million federal grant to fund research aimed at reducing manufacturing costs for low-energy light-emitting diode technology.

The U.S. Department of Energy made the grant to Veeco to help bring "significant reductions in manufacturing costs for LEDs, accomplished through the introduction of an aluminum-nitride… buffer layer that allows for growth on silicon,” the agency said in a Tuesday news release.

“The results of the project will translate into a more economical product for the consumer,” the agency said.

The agency awarded $8 million in New York and $15 million nationwide to help fund high-efficiency, solid-state lighting. The University of Rochester got $1.2 million; and Moser Baer Technologies Inc., of Canandaigua (near Rochester) got $2.9 million.

Photo shows Veeco technician at work.