Basis of Presentation (Details 2)	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015
Revenue Recognition
Revenue retention percentage	10.00%veco_PercentageOfRetentionRevenue

Represents the revenue retention percentage, typically as a percentage of sales price.

No definition available.

Name:	veco_PercentageOfRetentionRevenue
Namespace Prefix:	veco_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration