Product Development Engineer (Defect Inspection)

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 LS-SWIFT Division of KLA’s Global Products Group provides patterned wafer inspection systems for high-volume semiconductor manufacturing. Its mission is to deliver market-leading cost of ownership in defect detection for a broad range of applications in the production of semiconductors. Customers from the foundry, logic, memory, automotive, MEMS, advanced packaging and other markets rely upon high-sample wafer inspection information generated by LS-SWIFT products. LS (Laser Scanning) systems enable cost-effective patterned wafer defect detection for the industry’s most sophisticated process technologies deployed in leading-edge foundry, logic, DRAM, and NAND fabs. SWIFT (Simultaneous Wafer Inspection at Fast Throughput) systems deliver all-wafer-surface (frontside, backside, and edge) macro inspection that is critical for automotive IC, MEMS, and advanced packaging processes as well as foundry/logic and memory fabs. LS-SWIFT operates from a global footprint that includes the US, Singapore, India and Germany, and serves a worldwide customer base across Asia, Europe and North America.

Job Description/Preferred Qualifications

KLA is seeking a talented Product Development Engineer/Systems Engineer to support defect inspection tools within our Central Engineering Group in Ann Arbor. The successful candidate will drive complex instrument designs and be responsible for developing subsystems for the next generation of KLA inspection tools.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop detailed requirement specifications from marketing requirements using systems engineering methodology.
• Collaborate with Sensor, Optics, Opto-Mech, Algorithm, Software, and Marketing Teams to drive successful development and implementation of key subsystems.
• Develop and implement innovative design improvements to currently released products as well as novel next-generation products.
• Apply systems engineering principles to optimize critical systems-level instrument performance.
• Develop and test systems design improvements, spec validation, and implementation of solutions.
• Contribute to cross-training material and team’s skill advancement.
• Solve field customer concerns regarding sophisticated system performance problems by providing written plans of action remotely or offering on-site hands-on technical leadership at customer sites worldwide.
• Write high-level technical reports to communicate issues, analysis, technical assessments, system status, best-known-methods, and engineering recommendations.
• Design and drive multi-disciplinary experiments, write detailed test plans for systems testing.
• Coordinate with outside vendors to develop and deliver sub-system products.
• Hands-on troubleshooting and maintenance of engineering prototype systems.

Qualifications/Education Desired

• Solid understanding of imaging sensors and cameras, precision instruments, and control systems.
• Strong diagnostic and troubleshooting skills in imaging sensors and cameras, optics, opto-mechanics, and