[OBJECT OMITTED]                                                   NEWS

Veeco Instruments Inc., Terminal Drive, Plainview, NY 11803
Tel. 516-349-8300  FAX 516-349-8321

                                                       FOR IMMEDIATE  RELEASE

Financial Contact:  Debra Wasser, VP of Investor Relations, 516-349-8300, x1472
Trade Contact:  Fran Brennen, Director of Marketing Communications,
516-349-8300 x1222

                    VEECO ADOPTS SHAREHOLDER RIGHTS PLAN

Plainview, New York, March 13, 2001 - Veeco Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:
VECO) today announced that it has adopted a shareholder rights plan. Under
the terms of the Rights plan, on March 30, 2001, one Right will be issued
for each outstanding share of Common Stock. The Rights will expire on March
30, 2011, unless earlier terminated in accordance with the Plan. The Rights
distribution will not be taxable to stockholders.

Each Right will entitle stockholders to buy one ten-thousandth of a share
of the newly created Series A Junior Participating Preferred Stock of Veeco
at an exercise price of $200. In general, the Rights will become
exercisable if a person or group becomes the beneficial owner of 15 percent
or more of the outstanding Common Stock of Veeco or announces a tender
offer for 15 percent or more of the outstanding Common Stock (a "Triggering
Event"). The Board of Directors will generally be entitled to redeem the
Rights at one cent per Right at any time until 10 days following such an
event. Until the occurence of a Triggering Event, the rights will be
represented by the common stock certificates, will be transferable only
with the related common stock certificate and will not be exercisable.

The Rights Plan is designed to ensure that all Veeco stockholders receive
fair and equal treatment in the event of any proposed takeover of the
company. The Rights are not being distributed in response to any specific
effort to acquire the Company.

Details of the Rights Plan will be outlined in a letter to stockholders and
will be described in a Current Report on Form 8-K to be filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.

ABOUT VEECO:
Veeco Instruments Inc. is a worldwide leader in process equipment and
metrology tools for the optical telecommunications, data storage,
semiconductor and research markets. Manufacturing and engineering
facilities are located in New York, California, Colorado, Arizona and
Minnesota. Global sales and service offices are located throughout the
United States, Europe, Japan and Asia Pacific. Additional information on
Veeco can be found at http://www.veeco.com.

Forward Looking Statements: This news release contains certain
forward-looking statements, including those relating to distribution of
dividends and operation of the Shareholder Rights plan, that are subject to
various risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ
materially. These risks include the risk that future action or inaction by
the board of directors with respect to the Shareholder Rights Plan,
including any future decision regarding redemption of the Rights, could
become the subject of litigation and other risks detailed from time to time
in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The
company assumes no obligation to update the information in this release.

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