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                                                               EXHIBIT 10.10(b)

                                    AMENDMENT
                                       TO
                             ABINGTON BANCORP, INC.
                1997 INCENTIVE AND NONQUALIFIED STOCK OPTION PLAN

         ABINGTON BANCORP, INC., a Massachusetts corporation (the
"Corporation"), hereby adopts the following Amendment to the Abington Bancorp,
Inc. 1997 Incentive and Nonqualified Stock Option Plan, effective as of December
18, 2003:

                           1. Section 10.2 is amended by deleting the last
                  sentence of the first paragraph and deleting in their entirety
                  paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d).

         Executed effective as of the date set forth above.

                                      ABINGTON BANCORP, INC.

                                      By:  /s/ JAMES K. HUNT
                                           -----------------------------
                                           James K. Hunt
                                           Executive Vice President and
                                           Chief Finanical Officer<PAGE>

                                                               EXHIBIT 10.16(b)

                                    AMENDMENT
                                       TO
                             ABINGTON BANCORP, INC.
                2000 INCENTIVE AND NONQUALIFIED STOCK OPTION PLAN

         ABINGTON BANCORP, INC., a Massachusetts corporation (the
"Corporation"), hereby adopts the following Amendment to the Abington Bancorp,
Inc. 2000 Incentive and Nonqualified Stock Option Plan, effective as of December
18, 2003:

                           1. Section 10.2 is amended by deleting the last
                  sentence of the first paragraph and deleting in their entirety
                  paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d).

         Executed effective as of the date set forth above.

                                        ABINGTON BANCORP, INC.

                                        By:  /s/ JAMES K. HUNT
                                             ---------------------------------
                                             James K. Hunt
                                             Executive Vice President and
                                             Chief Finanical OfficerEXHIBIT 10.8  

        SEVENTH AMENDMENT dated as of February 5, 2004 (and effective as of December 31, 2003) (this "Amendment") to the Credit
Agreement dated as of April 19, 2001, as amended September 17, 2001, December 21, 2001, February 7, 2002, March 20, 2002, February 5, 2003, and
October 30, 2003 (as further amended, restated, supplemented or modified, the "Credit Agreement") by and among VEECO INSTRUMENTS INC., a
Delaware corporation (the "Company"), FLEET NATIONAL BANK, a national banking association, as Administrative Agent and as a Lender,  JPMORGAN CHASE BANK
(formerly known as The Chase Manhattan Bank), a New York banking corporation, as Syndication Agent and as a Lender,  HSBC BANK USA, a national banking association organized under the laws of the United
States of America, as Documentation Agent and as a Lender, and the
other Lenders party thereto. 

        WHEREAS, the Company has requested that the Lenders amend certain provisions of the Credit Agreement, and the Lenders have agreed to amend
such provisions of the Credit Agreement, subject to the terms and conditions set forth herein; 

        NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and of the mutual agreements herein contained, the parties hereto agree as follows: 

	1.
	Amendments.  

        a.     The definition of "Consolidated EBITDA" in Section 1.01 of the Credit Agreement is hereby amended and restated in its
entirety to provide
as follows: 

"Consolidated
EBITDA" shall mean, for any Person for any period, the Consolidated Net Income (Net Loss) of such Person and its Subsidiaries for such period before provision for federal and state
income taxes, minus (a) Consolidated Interest Income and (b) all extraordinary gains, plus
(a) one-time charges related to write-downs of intangible assets (including the value of in-process research and development related to a Permitted Acquisition),
(b) Consolidated Interest Expense, (c) depreciation and amortization expenses, and (d) non-cash purchase accounting adjustments related to the acquisitions of the
TurboDisc MOCVD business of EMCORE Corporation and Advanced Imaging, Inc. during the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2003, all determined in accordance with Generally Accepted
Accounting Principles applied on a consistent basis. All of the foregoing categories shall be calculated with respect to such Person and its Subsidiaries on a consolidated basis and shall be
calculated (without duplication) over the four fiscal quarters ending on or most recently ended prior to the date of calculation thereof. 

        b.     Section 7.13(f)
of the Credit Agreement is hereby amended and restated to provide in its entirety as follows: 

"(f)
Consolidated EBITDA. Permit Consolidated EBITDA to be less than $18,500,000 at December 31, 2003. 

	2.
	Conditions to Effectiveness.

        This
Amendment shall become effective upon receipt by the Administrative Agent of: (a) this Amendment, duly executed by the Company and the Guarantors; (b) executed
consents from the Required Lenders authorizing the Administrative Agent to execute this Amendment on behalf of the Lenders; and (c) an amendment fee of $5,000 for each Lender that consents, on
or before 12:00 PM on Thursday, February 5, 2004, to the Agent's execution and delivery of this Amendment. 

2

 

	3.
	Miscellaneous.

        Capitalized
terms used herein and not otherwise defined herein shall have the same meanings as defined in the Credit Agreement. 

        Except
as expressly amended hereby, the Credit Agreement shall remain in full force and effect in accordance with the original terms thereof. 

        The
amendments set forth above are limited specifically to the matters set forth above and for the specific instances and purposes given and do not constitute directly or by implication
a waiver or amendment of any other provision of the Credit Agreement or a waiver of any Default or Event of Default, whether now existing or hereafter arising, which may occur or may have occurred. 

        The
Company hereby represents and warrants that (a) after giving effect to this Amendment, the representations and warranties made by the Company and each of its Subsidiaries
pursuant to the Credit Agreement and the other Loan Documents to which each is a party are true and correct in all material respects as of the date hereof with the same effect as though such
representations and warranties had been made on and as of such date, unless any such representation or warranty is as of a specific date, in which case, as of such date, and (b) after giving
effect to this Amendment, no Default or Event of Default has occurred and is continuing. 

        This
Amendment may be executed in one or more counterparts, each of which shall constitute an original, but all of which when taken together shall constitute but one Amendment. This
Amendment shall become effective when duly executed counterparts hereof which, when taken together, bear the signatures of each of the parties hereto shall have been delivered to the Administrative
Agent. 

        This
Amendment shall constitute a Loan Document. 

        This
Amendment shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York. 

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page is signature page] 

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        IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company and the Administrative Agent, as authorized on behalf of the Lenders, have caused this Amendment to be
duly executed by their duly authorized officers, all as of the day and year first above written. 

	VEECO INSTRUMENTS INC.	 	FLEET NATIONAL BANK, as

Administrative Agent
	

By:	
 	

/s/  JOHN F. REIN, JR.      	
 	

By:	
 	

/s/  CHRISTOPHER MENDELSOHN      
	Name:	 	John F. Rein, Jr.	 	Name:	 	Christopher Mendelsohn
	Title:	 	Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer	 	Title:	 	Senior Vice President

        The
undersigned, not parties to the Credit Agreement but as Guarantors under their respective Guaranties executed in favor of the Lenders, each hereby (a) accept and agree to the
terms of the foregoing Amendment; (b) acknowledge and confirm that all terms and provisions contained in their respective Guaranty are, and shall remain, in full force and effect in accordance
with their respective terms; (c) reaffirm and ratify all of the representations and covenants contained in their respective Guaranty; and (d) represent, warrant and confirm the
non-existence of any offsets, defenses and counterclaims to its obligations under its Guaranty. 

	VEECO TUCSON INC.	 	VEECO METROLOGY, LLC
	(formerly WYKO CORPORATION)	 	By:	 	VEECO INSTRUMENTS INC., its Sole Member
	

By:	
 	

/s/  JOHN F. REIN, JR.      	
 	

By:	
 	

/s/  JOHN F. REIN, JR.      
	Name:	 	John F. Rein, Jr.	 	Name:	 	John F. Rein, Jr.
	Title:	 	Vice President	 	Title:	 	Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
	
VEECO FT. COLLINS INC.

(formerly ION TECH, INC.)	
 	
VEECO ROCHESTER INC.

(formerly CVC PRODUCTS, INC.)
	

By:	
 	

/s/  JOHN F. REIN, JR.      	
 	

By:	
 	

/s/  JOHN F. REIN, JR.      
	Name:	 	John F. Rein, Jr.	 	Name:	 	John F. Rein, Jr.
	Title:	 	Vice President	 	Title:	 	Vice President
	
VEECO COMPOUND SEMICONDUCTOR INC. (formerly Veeco St. Paul Inc. formerly

Applied EPI, Inc.)	
 	

 	
 	

 
	

By:	
 	

/s/  JOHN F. REIN, JR.      	
 	

 	
 	

 
	Name:	 	John F. Rein, Jr.	 	 	 	 
	Title:	 	Vice President	 	 	 	 

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EXHIBIT 10.38  

        Veeco Instruments Inc.
  100 Sunnyside Boulevard, Suite B    •    Woodbury, NY 11797
    •    Phone (516) 677-0200    •    Fax (516) 677-0380 

January 21, 2004 

John
Kiernan

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxxxxx 

Dear
John: 

        On
behalf of Veeco, I am pleased to offer to you enhanced severance arrangements in recognition of the valuable contributions you have made to Veeco's success. 

        In
the event you are terminated without "Cause" or you resign for "Good Reason" (each as defined below), the following would apply: 

        (a)   Veeco
will pay you 18 months severance in the form of a salary continuation benefit based on your annual base salary in effect immediately prior to such
termination (but without regard to any salary reduction program then in place), less applicable deductions. 

        (b)   Any
options to purchase shares of Veeco common stock granted to you on or after the date hereof ("Options") which are held by you as of the date of such termination
shall remain exerciseable until the earlier of (x) 12 months following the date of such termination and (y) the expiration of the original term of such Options. 

        (c)   In
addition, if such termination or resignation occurs within 12 months following a "Change of Control" (as defined below), any Options which are held by you as
of the date of such termination that were not vested as of such date shall become immediately and fully vested as of such date. 

Receipt
of the benefits described above is conditioned upon your execution (without revocation) of a general release of claims in a form satisfactory to Veeco, including non-competition
and non-solicitation provisions for the duration of the period during which salary continuation benefits are payable as described above. Please see the attached page for certain additional
provisions of this letter. 

        I
appreciate the commitment you have made to Veeco and it is with that understanding that you have been selected as a key member of the Veeco team to receive these severance benefits. 

        If
you agree with the foregoing, please sign below to so indicate. 

	Sincerely,	 	ACCEPTED AND AGREED:
	/s/  EDWARD H. BRAUN      	 	/s/  JOHN KIERNAN      
	Edward H. Braun	 	John Kiernan
	Chairman and Chief Executive Officer	 	 

 
 

Additional Provisions    
    

        Please note that this letter does not alter the "at-will" nature of your employment with Veeco. This means that your employment may be terminated by
you or by Veeco at any time, with or without cause. As described above, however, you may be entitled to severance benefits depending upon the circumstances of the termination of employment. 

        As
used above, the following definitions shall apply: 

        "Cause" shall mean (i) your willful and substantial misconduct, (ii) your repeated, after written notice, neglect of duties
or failure to perform your assigned duties, (iii) your commission of any material fraudulent act with respect to Veeco or its business, or (iv) your conviction of (or plea of no contest
to) a crime constituting a felony. 

        "Change of Control" shall mean: (a) any person or group of persons becomes the beneficial owner of securities representing
50 percent or more of Veeco's outstanding voting securities, or (b) the approval by Veeco's stockholders of one of the following: 

        (i)    Any
merger or statutory plan of exchange ("Merger") in which Veeco would not be the surviving corporation or pursuant to which Veeco's voting securities would be
converted into cash, securities or other property, other than a Merger in which the holders of Veeco's voting securities immediately prior to the Merger have the same proportionate ownership of voting
securities of the surviving corporation after the Merger; 

        (ii)   Any
Merger in which the holders of outstanding voting securities of Veeco prior to such Merger will not, in the aggregate, own a majority of the outstanding voting
securities of the combined entity after such Merger; or 

        (iii)  Any
sale or other transfer (in one transaction or a series of related transactions) of all or substantially all of the Veeco's assets or the adoption of any plan or
proposal for Veeco's liquidation or dissolution. 

        "Good Reason" shall mean a reduction of your base salary, other than as part of a salary reduction program affecting management employees
generally. 

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Additional Provisions

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