Research Scientist (Electron Optics Systems)

Company Overview

KLA is a global leader in diversified electronics for the semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem. Virtually every electronic device in the world is produced using our technologies. No laptop, smartphone, wearable device, voice-controlled gadget, flexible screen, VR device or smart car would have made it into your hands without us. KLA invents systems and solutions for the manufacturing of wafers and reticles, integrated circuits, packaging, printed circuit boards and flat panel displays. The innovative ideas and devices that are advancing humanity all begin with inspiration, research and development. KLA focuses more than average on innovation and we invest 15% of sales back into R&D. Our expert teams of physicists, engineers, data scientists and problem-solvers work together with the world’s leading technology providers to accelerate the delivery of tomorrow’s electronic devices. Life here is exciting and our teams thrive on tackling really hard problems. There is never a dull moment with us.

Group/Division

With over 40 years of semiconductor process control experience, chipmakers around the globe rely on KLA to ensure that their fabs ramp next-generation devices to volume production quickly and cost-effectively. Enabling the movement towards advanced chip design, KLA's Global Products Group (GPG), which is responsible for creating all of KLA’s metrology and inspection products, is looking for the best and the brightest research scientist, software engineers, application development engineers, and senior product technology process engineers. The Broadband Plasma Division (BBP) provides market-leading patterned wafer optical inspection systems for leading-edge IC manufacturing. Logic, foundry, and memory customers depend on BBP products to detect yield-critical defects for process debug and excursion monitoring at advanced process nodes. BBP flagship products include the 29xx and 39xx series which leverage Broadband Plasma technology to capture a wide range of defects with ultimate sensitivity at the optical inspection speeds needed for inline defect monitoring.

Job Description/Preferred Qualifications

This is an applied R&D position in the advanced technology group within the BBP division in Milpitas, CA. We are seeking a motivated research scientist to help develop next generation wafer inspection tools.

Responsibilities:

• Research, develop and test methods for characterizing electron optics systems or related sub-systems.

• Collaborate with systems and design engineers to understand requirements, implement test plans, collect and analyze data and synthesize results to help make decisions for product designs and specifications.

• Provide analysis and clear communication of results.

• Stay up to date on related external research and developments.

• May collaborate with internal or external development partners to develop new technologies, processes, or to improve current approaches.

• May participate in design, simulation, error budget development and design review processes, validation processes including development risk identification, assessment and mitigation.

• May develop and/or provide guidance to top-level system specifications, sub-system error budgets, interfaces and working parameters for optimum solutions.

Desired Qualifications:

• BS MS, or PhD in Physics, Electrical/Computer Engineering or related fields.

• Innovative and technically broad with a solid grounding in fundamentals.

• Hands on lab skills, design of experiments, data collection and analysis.

• Good interpersonal and communication skills.

• Self-motivated and eager to learn new technologies.

• Familiar with at least one scripting language e.g. Matlab, Python.

• Familiarity with scanning electron microscopes, image formation and analysis, electron-surface interaction and vacuum systems is a plus.

Minimum Qualifications

• Doctorate (Academic) Degree;
• Master's Level Degree and related work experience of 3 years;
• Bachelor's Level Degree and related work experience of 6 years

Base Pay Range: $154,900.00 - $263,300.00 Annually

Primary Location: USA-CA-Milpitas-KLA

KLA’s total rewards package for employees may also include participation in performance incentive programs and eligibility for additional benefits including but not limited to: medical, dental, vision, life, and other voluntary benefits, 401(K) including company matching, employee stock purchase program (ESPP)