Basis of Presentation (Details)	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2017
Basis of Presentation
Duration of each fiscal quarter for 52-week fiscal year	91 days
Revenue recognition
Revenue retention percentage	10.00%

Disclosure of the duration of each fiscal quarter for a 52-week fiscal year.

No definition available.

Name:	veco_NumberOfWeeksInFiscalQuarter52WeekYear
Namespace Prefix:	veco_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration