KLA-Tencor
 | |
| Public | |
| Traded as |
NASDAQ: KLAC NASDAQ-100 Component S&P 500 Component |
| Industry | Semiconductor Equipment & Materials |
| Founded | 1997 (merger of KLA and Tencor) |
| Headquarters | Milpitas, California, United States |
Key people |
Edward W. Barnholt, Chairman Richard P. Wallace, CEO |
| Products | Chips, wafers, semiconductors, and other related industries. |
| Revenue | |
| Total assets | |
| Total equity | |
Number of employees | 6,100 (2015) |
| Website |
www |
KLA-Tencor Corporation is a global, capital equipment company based in Milpitas, California. It supplies process control and yield management products for the semiconductor, data storage, LED, and related nanoelectronics industries. The company's products, software and services are intended for all phases of integrated circuit chip production, from research and development to wafer fabrication and advanced packaging processes, to final volume development.[3]
KLA-Tencor’s products and services are used by the vast majority of bare wafer, IC, lithography reticle and disk manufacturers around the world. These customers rely on KLA-Tencor’s inline wafer and IC defect monitoring, review and classification; reticle defect inspection and metrology; packaging and interconnect inspection; critical dimension (CD) metrology; pattern overlay metrology; film thickness, surface topography and composition measurements; measurement of in-chamber process conditions, wafer shape and stress metrology; computational lithography tools and overall yield and fab-wide data management and analysis systems. Chip manufacturers leverage KLA-Tencor’s portfolio of products and related offerings to manage yield throughout the entire semiconductor fabrication process, accelerate development and production ramp cycles and achieve higher and more stable semiconductor die yields.
K-T Services[3] is the company’s global service network that maintains the productivity and performance of all of its tools. It formally established its foundation in 2000, KLA-Tencor Foundation,[4] which supports various global giving efforts. In 2014, on behalf of the company’s employees and in their name, the KLA-Tencor Foundation gave $40,000 to Sacred Heart Community Service to alleviate the organization’s turkey shortage and to make holiday meals possible for Bay Area residents.[5]
On 21st Oct 2015, Lam Research reached a settlement with KLA-Tencor to acquire KLA-Tencor for $67.02 a share. The deal is expected to complete by Summer of 2016.
Facilities
KLA-Tencor has operations throughout the world, with manufacturing, support and R&D facilities in the United States, India, Israel, Belgium, Germany, China, and Singapore.
Management
• Chief Executive Officer and President: Rick Wallace
• Chief Financial Officer: Bren Higgins
• Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President of Corporate Alliances: Ben Tsai
KLA-Tencor 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. KLA Instruments was founded in 1975 by Ken Levy and Bob Anderson, and focused on defect inspection solutions. Karel Urbanek established Tencor Instruments in 1977 with an emphasis on metrology solutions.
Since the merger, which was valued at $1.3 billion, KLA-Tencor has acquired 19 additional companies:
• 1998: Amray Inc.; Nanopro GmbH; The Quantox product line from Keithley Instruments, Inc.; VARS; The Ultrapointe subsidiary of Uniphase Corporation
• 1999: ACME Systems Inc.
• 2000: Fab Solutions, from ObjectSpace Inc.; FINLE Technologies, Inc.
• 2001: Phase Metrics
• 2004: Candela Instruments; Wafer Inspection Systems business of Inspex, Inc.
• 2006: ADE Corporation
• 2007: OnWafer Technologies; SensArray Corporation; Therma-Wave Corporation
• 2008: ICOS Vision Systems Corporation NV; Microelectronic Inspection Equipment (MIE) business unit of Vistec Semiconductor Systems
• 2010: Ambios Technology
• 2014: Luminescent Technologies
Process control technology and applications
KLA-Tencor’s defect inspection and metrology products and related offerings can be broadly categorized into the following groups: Chip Manufacturing, Reticle Manufacturing, Data Storage Media/Head Manufacturing, LED Manufacturing, Compound Semiconductor Manufacturing, Microelectromechanical Systems (“MEMS”) Manufacturing, and Surface Profilometry and Metrology. KLA-Tencor also provides refurbished tools as part of its K-T Certified™ program [6]
- Chip Manufacturing: Defect inspection, review, metrology, lithography modeling and in-situ process monitoring tools manage yield throughout the entire semiconductor device fabrication process including advanced semiconductor packaging4. Its tools include CIRCL-AP™ and 5D
- Wafer Manufacturing: KLA-Tencor’s wafer manufacturing equipment and tools address wafer manufacturing inspection (wafer surface inspection), wafer shape quality review, metrology and data management systems. Its tools include the Surfscan SPx, eDR-7100 Series, WaferSight 2+, FabVision, and Klarity Defect
- Reticle Manufacturing: KLA-Tencor’s reticle inspection systems use optical imaging and multiple inspection modes to find all types of reticle defects prior to printing on the wafer. Its tools include the Teron 600 Series, IPRO Series, 98e, and Klarity Defect
- Data Storage Media/Head Manufacturing: A mix of process control test equipment and surface profilers resolve manufacturing problems related to consumer electronics with small form factors and immense data storage capacities. Its tools include series of Puma 91xx Series, Aleris Family, HRP, Archer, P-Series, P-17, PROLITH, K-T Analyzer, Thermal MAP, Thermal TRACK, SensArray, Candela, and Klarity
- LED Manufacturing: Serves manufacturers of High Brightness light-emitting diode (HB-LED) applications such as mobile phone LCD screens and keypads, flashlights. Its tools offer outgoing automated visual inspection of HB-LED manufacturing for quality on the wafer surface and includes systems such as ICOS, Candela, KLARITY LED, P-Series, HRP-250 and MicroXAM
- Compound Semiconductor Manufacturing: Inspection tools combine the elemental principles of scatterometry, ellipsometry, reflectometry, and topographical analysis to detect defects and then classify defects in substrates, epi-layers, and process films. Its tool systems include ICOS, Candela, P-Series, and MicroXAM
- MEMS Manufacturing: For the emerging microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) manufacturing market, its tools include the P-Series, HRP, ICOS series, and MicroXam
- Surface Profilometry and Metrology: A range of industries including scientific and materials research and optoelectronics require measurements of surface topography. Research grade stylus surface profilometer products merge surface metrology and measurement capabilities into tools such as the Alpha-Step, HRP, P-17
- Certified Used Equipment: KLA-Tencor's asset management program that delivers refurbished and tested tools
Research and Development
The market for yield management and process monitoring systems is characterized by rapid technological development and product innovation. Such technical innovations are inherently complex and require long development cycles. KLA-Tencor keeps a significant staff of full-time research and development professionals, and makes significant investments in product research and development.[6]
Glossary
• Back-end: Process steps that make up the second half of the semiconductor manufacturing process, from contact through completion of the wafer prior to electrical test
• Critical Dimension (CD): The dimension of a specified geometry, such as the width of a patterned line or the distance between two lines, that must be within design tolerances in order to maintain semiconductor device performance consistency
• Design Rules: Rules that set forth the allowable dimensions of particular features used in the design and layout of integrated circuits
• Die: The term for a single semiconductor chip on a wafer
• Excursion: For a manufacturing step or process, a deviation from normal operating conditions that can lead to decreased performance or yield of the final product
• Fab: the main manufacturing facility for processing semiconductor wafers
• Front-end: The processes that make up the first half of the semiconductor manufacturing process, from wafer start through final contact window processing
• Interconnect: A highly conductive material, usually copper or aluminum, that carries electrical signals to different parts of a die
• Lithography: A process in which a masked pattern is projected onto a photosensitive coating that covers a substrate
• Mask shop: A manufacturer that produces the reticles used by semiconductor manufacturers
• Metrology: The science of measurement to determine dimensions, quantity or capacity. In the semiconductor industry, typical measurements include critical dimension, overlay and film thickness
• Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS): Micron-sized mechanical devices powered by electricity, created using processes similar to those used to manufacture integrated circuit (IC) devices
• Micron: A metric unit of linear measure that equals 1/1,000,000 meter (10-6m), or 10,000 angstroms (the diameter of a human hair is approximately 75 microns)
• Nanometer (nm): One billionth (10-9) of a meter
• Patterned: For semiconductor manufacturing and industries using similar processing technologies, refers to substrates that have electronic circuits (transistors, interconnects, etc.) fabricated on the surface
• Photoresist: A radiation-sensitive material that, when properly applied to a variety of substrates and then properly exposed and developed, masks portions of the substrate with a high degree of integrity
• Process Control: The ability to maintain specifications of products and equipment during manufacturing operations
• Reticle: A very flat glass plate that contains the patterns to reproduce on a wafer
• Substrate: A wafer on which layers of various materials are added during the process of manufacturing semiconductor devices or circuits
• Yield Management: The ability of a semiconductor manufacturer to oversee, manage, and control its manufacturing processes so as to maximize the percentage of manufactured wafers or die that conform to pre-determined specifications
KLA-Tencor Foundation
The KLA-Tencor Foundation works to improve the communities in which KLA-Tencor employees live and work through charitable giving, employee volunteerism, donation matching and other philanthropic activities.
The Foundation was formed in 2000 with a focus on supporting nonprofits related to the semiconductor industry in the Silicon Valley. Over the years, the Foundation expanded to dedicate funds to all KLA-Tencor regional offices throughout the world, encouraging all employees to support their local communities through donations and volunteerism.
The KLA-Tencor Foundation is dedicated to supporting organizations, events and causes in four main areas: STEM education, wellness, local community, and the international community.
Organizations supported by the KLA-Tencor Foundation include SEMI High Tech U, Computer History Museum, Junior Achievement, Habitat for Humanity, American Red Cross, American Heart Association, Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, and Sacred Heart Community Service.
Corporate social responsibility
KLA-Tencor has been registered to the ISO 14001 standard since 2003. It takes a company-wide approach to environmental management and focuses its environmental efforts on materials and packaging, transport, energy, water and emissions, effluents and waste, and its supply chain. The company annually publishes a CSR report, detailing facts, figures and achievements in all CSR initiatives.
KLA-Tencor has a comprehensive social program and supporting initiatives. Its corporate governance is committed to strict compliance with laws issued by the U.S. federal and applicable state governments, and foreign authorities. The company offers a range of social programs, such as health and wellness, training and development, and philanthropic initiatives carried out by its Foundation.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 "KLA TENCOR CORP 2015 Annual Report Form (10-K)" (XBRL). United States Securities and Exchange Commission. August 7, 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "KLA TENCOR CORP 2014 Annual Report Form (10-K)" (XBRL). United States Securities and Exchange Commission. August 8, 2014.
- 1 2 KLA-Tencor Website
- ↑ KLA-Tencor Foundation Website
- ↑ San Jose Mercury News, “Pizarro: KLA-Tencor Brings a Thanksgiving Donation of $40,000 to Sacred Heart Community Service,” Dec. 2, 2014