Veeco Instruments Inc. has announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Daiyang Metal Co. Ltd of Korea, a producer of cold rolled stainless steel, to be its supplier of equipment to manufacture CIGS (copper, indium, gallium, selenium) solar cells. As a first milestone in this relationship, Daiyang has placed an initial multi-million dollar purchase order with Veeco for its complement of FastFlex™ Web Coating Systems to build a thin-film CIGS solar cell production line in Yesan, Korea. This complement of tools is comprised of one Mo (Molybdenum) deposition system, one TCO (Transparent Conductive Oxide) deposition system and two CIGS deposition systems. Veeco currently expects to ship these systems during the fourth quarter of 2009, after which it expects to firm up a follow-on order with Daiyang.