Applications Development Engineer
About The Position
The Applications Development Engineer supports KLA’s Film and Scatterometry Technology (FaST) division, which delivers metrology solutions for semiconductor manufacturing. The role focuses on Thermal Probe (TP) applications and advances business priorities through customer-facing technical support and application development. The engineer serves as a primary technical contact for customers, supporting tool installation, qualification, production ramp, troubleshooting, and optimized metrology solutions. The role develops and optimizes optical metrology recipes, sets up and refines models, and ensures accurate, repeatable measurements that correlate with customer reference methods. Work supports inline process control and offline characterization. The position also executes customer demonstrations, evaluations, and acceptance tests; analyzes data to demonstrate tool capability; drives specification closure; and improves demo efficiency and throughput. Close collaboration with product engineering, R&D, field service engineers, and global application teams is expected. The role requires 30% domestic and international travel.
Requirements
- Master’s or PhD in Materials Science, Physics, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
- 3–8+ years of experience in semiconductor applications, metrology, or process engineering.
- Knowledge of thermal probe technology.
- Knowledge of optical metrology.
- Knowledge of thermal probe characterization and modeling.
- Knowledge of semiconductor process integration in logic, memory, or packaging.
- Strong data analysis and problem-solving skills.
- Strong customer-facing communication skills.
- Ability to work independently and in cross-functional teams.
- Detail-oriented with strong execution capability.
- Ability to learn quickly and adapt in a dynamic environment.
Nice To Haves
- Hands-on experience with thermal probe or similar metrology platforms.
- Experience supporting tool demonstrations or qualifications at customer sites.
- Familiarity with advanced packaging or emerging device structures.
Responsibilities
- Act as a primary technical contact for customers on Thermal Probe (TP) applications.
- Support tool installation, qualification, and production ramp at customer sites.
- Understand customer process challenges and provide optimized metrology solutions.
- Troubleshoot and resolve application-related issues in a timely manner.
- Develop and optimize recipes for optical metrology.
- Perform model setup and refinement.
- Ensure measurement accuracy, repeatability, and correlation to customer reference methods.
- Support inline process control and offline characterization use cases.
- Execute customer demonstrations, evaluations, and acceptance tests, including Tier-2 tests.
- Prepare and analyze data to demonstrate tool capability and application performance.
- Drive specification closure and meet customer requirements within defined timelines.
- Improve demonstration efficiency, throughput, and cycle time.
- Work with product engineering and R&D teams to report issues and drive improvements.
- Provide feedback on application gaps, customer needs, and competitive insights.
- Collaborate with field service engineers to ensure tool performance and uptime.
- Align with global application teams to leverage best practices.
Benefits
- Medical, dental, vision, life, and other voluntary benefits.
- 401(k) with 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.
- Family care and bonding leave.
- Performance incentive programs may be available.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
