Base Pay Range: $149,000.00 - $253,300.00 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 identified below. Interns are eligible for some of the benefits identified below. Our pay ranges are determined by role, level, and location. The range displayed above reflects the minimum and maximum pay for this position in the primary location identified in this posting. Actual pay depends on several factors, including location, job-related skills, experience, and relevant education level or training. If applicable, your recruiter can share more about the specific pay range for your preferred location during the hiring process.
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
We seek an expert in theoretical and computational electromagnetism to join the technology development team in the Broad Band Plasma division at KLA. This division develops the world’s most sophisticated optical inspection technology deployed by all semiconductor manufacturers to detect critical defects in wafers patterned with logic and memory devices.
An individual in this role will perform modeling and simulation to help understand, from first principles, the sensitivity challenges in optical detection of nanometer scale defects in semiconductor devices. The individual will contribute to building the future optical inspection technologies.
The individual in this role is expected to investigate research ideas through simulation and/or experiment, and to provide a solid theoretical basis for the results. The individual is expected to gain confidence of key stakeholders by demonstrating predictive value of models and simulations through collection and in-depth analysis of data.
The individual may initially spend significant time in performing simulations to optimize the geometry and composition of specialized device patterned wafers to increase sensitivity to critical defects. This work will be carried out in collaboration with major semiconductor device manufacturers.
We prefer candidates with at least 5 years of research experience in electromagnetism, and a proven track record to build and perform simulations in any sub-field of optics. Candidates should be skilled in scientific computing.
Education Requirements:
PhD in Physics, Electrical/Computer Engineering, or related fields.
Minimum Technical Skills:

• Fourier optics for modeling of coherent and incoherent imaging systems, including the understanding of wavefront aberrations.
• Deep familiarity with electromagnetic scattering theory and perturbation methods.
• Ability to setup simulations of complex nanoscale circuitry of highly dispersive metals and dielectrics using finite difference time-domain and/or finite element frequency domain approaches.
• Ability to verify results, perform convergence studies, and accurately choose numerical parameters for each simulation approach.
• Design and execute experiments to test predictions of simulations and investigate novel detection approaches and algorithms on optical inspection platforms.
• Knowledge of Python and C/C ecosystem for scientific computing.
• Proficient with scripting workflows on Linux-based high performance computing clusters.

Additional Skills:
We will give strong preferences to candidates with proven track record in one or more of the following areas:

• Image processing, signal processing and knowledge of linear systems.
• Machine learning and classical techniques of modeling probability distributions in high-dimensional spaces.
• Modeling of light-matter interaction in bulk solids and nanoparticles, including knowledge of time-dependent density functional theory and/or non-equilibrium Green’s functions.

Minimum Qualifications
PhD Degree 3 years, or Master Degree 6 years, or Bachelor Degree 8 years
The company offers a total rewards package that is competitive and comprehensive including but not limited to the following: medical, dental, vision, life, and other voluntary benefits, 401(K) including company matching, employee stock purchase program (ESPP), student debt assistance, tuition reimbursement program, development and career growth opportunities and programs, financial planning benefits, wellness benefits including an employee assistance program (EAP), paid time off and paid company holidays, and family care and bonding leave.
KLA is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status or any other status protected by applicable law. We will ensure that qualified individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us at talent.acquisition@kla.com to request accommodation.