KLA Corporation is an American capital equipment company based in
Milpitas, California. It supplies
process control and
yield management systems for the
semiconductor industry
The semiconductor industry is the aggregate of companies engaged in the design and fabrication of semiconductors and semiconductor devices, such as transistors and integrated circuits. It formed around 1960, once the fabrication of semiconduc ...
and other related
nanoelectronics industries. The company's products and services are intended for all phases of
wafer,
reticle,
integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...
(IC) and packaging production, from research and development to final volume manufacturing.
History
KLA-Tencor was formed in 1997 through the merger of KLA Instruments and Tencor Instruments, two companies in the semiconductor equipment and yield management systems industry.
The merger was intended to create a single source for chip process and diagnostics equipment.
[ KLA Instruments was founded in 1975 by Ken Levy and Bob Anderson, and focused on photomask detection to identify chip defects. KLA later broadened its product line to include wafer inspection, wafer ]metrology
Metrology is the scientific study of measurement. It establishes a common understanding of units, crucial in linking human activities. Modern metrology has its roots in the French Revolution's political motivation to standardise units in Fran ...
and integrated inspection and analysis software. Tencor was founded in 1976 by Czech scientist and US immigrant Karel Urbanek, along with colleague John Schwabacher. The company initially focused on making precise measurements of semiconductor film layer thickness, and in 1984, developed laser-scanning technology to detect particle and other contamination. The company also developed defect review and data analysis equipment.[ At the time of the merger, the companies' combined revenue was greater than $1 billion.][
In February 1998, KLA-Tencor acquired ]Freiburg, Germany
Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...
-based Nanopro GmbH, a company that used advanced interferometric
Interferometry is a technique which uses the '' interference'' of superimposed waves to extract information. Interferometry typically uses electromagnetic waves and is an important investigative technique in the fields of astronomy, fiber o ...
technology for wafer shape and thickness measurements. In April, the company acquired Amray, Inc., a Bedford, Massachusetts-based provider of scanning electron microscope (SEM) systems for applications including semiconductor manufacturing. In June, the company acquired San Jose, CA
San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 po ...
-based VARS, a developer of image archiving and retrieval systems.[ In November, KLA-Tencor acquired the Quantox line of oxide monitoring products from ]Solon, Ohio
Solon ( ) is a city in southeastern Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. A suburb of Cleveland, it is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area. According to the 2020 census, the population of Solon was 24,262.
The city has been recognized by ''M ...
-based measurement and instrument company Keithley Instruments. In December, the company acquired the Ultrapointe subsidiary of Uniphase Corporation
JDS Uniphase Corporation (JDSU) was an American company that designed and manufactured products for optical communications networks, communications test and measurement equipment, lasers, optical solutions for authentication and decorative applica ...
.
In December 1999, the company acquired Taiwan-based yield analysis software maker ACME Systems.
In February 2000, KLA-Tencor acquired Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
-based Finle Technologies, Inc., a developer of lithography modeling and analysis software. In March, the company acquired Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
-based advanced process control (APC) software developer Fab Solutions, from parent ObjectSpace.
In 2001, the company acquired yield management and process control company Phase Metrics, Inc.
In 2004, KLA-Tencor acquired surface inspection system manufacturer Candela Instruments, Inc. and the Wafer Inspection Systems business of Inspex, Inc.
In 2006, the company acquired ADE Corporation, a supplier of silicon wafer metrology
Metrology is the scientific study of measurement. It establishes a common understanding of units, crucial in linking human activities. Modern metrology has its roots in the French Revolution's political motivation to standardise units in Fran ...
and related gear.
In 2007, KLA-Tencor acquired lithography and plasma etch products manufacturer OnWafer Technologies, temperature monitoring firm SensArray Corporation[ and process control and metrology company Therma-Wave Corporation.
In 2008, the company acquired test and measurement company ICOS Vision Systems Corporation NV, and the Microelectronic Inspection Equipment (MIE) business unit of Vistec Semiconductor Systems, Inc.]
In 2010, KLA-Tencor acquired technology hardware company Ambios Technology, Inc.
In 2014, the company acquired computational lithography
Computational lithography (also known as computational scaling) is the set of mathematical and algorithmic approaches designed to improve the resolution attainable through photolithography. Computational lithography has come to the forefront of ...
and inspection company Luminescent Technologies, Inc.
In 2017, the company acquired optical profiling and inspection company Zeta Technologies Co. Ltd.
In 2018, KLA-Tencor acquired the Nano Indenter product line from Keysight Technologies
Keysight Technologies, or Keysight, is an American company that manufactures electronics test and measurement equipment and software. The name is a blend of ''key'' and ''insight''. The company was formed as a spin-off of Agilent Technologies, wh ...
. The company also acquired Nanomechanics Inc. and MicroVision.
In March 2018, KLA-Tencor announced an agreement to acquire Yavne, Israel
Yavne ( he, יַבְנֶה) or Yavneh is a city in the Central District of Israel. In many English translations of the Bible, it is known as Jabneh . During Greco-Roman times, it was known as Jamnia ( grc, Ἰαμνία ''Iamníā''; la, Iamnia ...
-based automated optical inspection equipment vendor Orbotech for approximately $3.4 billion. Orbotech also owned Newport, Wales
Newport ( cy, Casnewydd; ) is a city and county borough in Wales, situated on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, northeast of Cardiff. With a population of 145,700 at the 2011 census, Newport is the third-larges ...
, UK-based SPTS Technologies Ltd, a manufacturer of etch, PVD and CVD wafer processing equipment for the MEMS, advanced packaging, LED, high-speed RF, and power management devices.
On January 10, 2019, KLA-Tencor announced that they were changing their name to KLA Corporation. In February, the company announced that its acquisition of Orbotech was complete.[ The company's name change took effect in July 2019. In June, KLA announced plans to open a second US headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The facility was scheduled to open in summer 2021, with plans to host 500-600 new hires, around 50% of whom were to be engineers.] The facility would reportedly have a relationship with the University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
and support automotive industry partnerships.
In July 2021, the company introduced new inspection products for automotive chips. In November, KLA's new North American headquarters opened in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The facility is 230,000 square feet, and is designed to support 1,000 employees.[
]
Illegal stock options backdating
On January 2008, KLA paid $65 million to settle allegations that the company and certain executives had illegally backdated stock option grants. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission stated that "KLA dramatically overstated its reported financial results, depriving investors of accurate information about the company's compensation costs and financial performance. It is especially troubling for a public company to engage in such misconduct even after being cautioned that these practices were impermissible."
KLA Foundation
KLA Foundation (originally KLA-Tencor Foundation) is the company's philanthropic arm, and was founded in 2000. KLA Foundation supports and benefits the global communities in which KLA employees live, such as donations to the Milpitas school district, the American Red Cross, and Silicon Valley Leadership Group’s Covid-19 Aid Coalition.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Companies based in Milpitas, California
Electronics companies established in 1997
Equipment semiconductor companies
Companies listed on the Nasdaq