Applications Development Engineer

Job Title

Applications Development Engineer

Role Summary

Work within the FaST division of KLA's Global Products Group to develop, validate, and deploy optical metrology applications for semiconductor customers. The role combines application development, customer-facing support during tool install/qualification and production ramp, demo/evaluation execution, and cross-functional collaboration with product engineering, R&D, and field service teams.

Experience Level

Mid-level — typically 3–8+ years of experience in semiconductor applications, metrology, or process engineering.

Responsibilities

Provide application-focused technical support and develop optical metrology solutions to meet customer process requirements.

• Act as primary technical contact for customers on optical film/metrology (OFM) applications; support tool installation, qualification, and production ramp at customer sites.
• Develop and optimize measurement recipes and optical models (e.g., thin-film modeling, Drude-Lorentz fitting) to ensure accuracy and repeatability.
• Execute customer demos, evaluations, and acceptance tests; prepare and analyze data to demonstrate tool capability and drive spec closure.
• Troubleshoot application-related issues and deliver timely resolutions to meet customer requirements and timelines.
• Collaborate with product engineering, R&D, and field service to report issues, drive improvements, and share best practices globally.
• Support advanced process areas (logic, memory, advanced packaging) and expand use cases for OFM capability.
• Maintain documentation of applications, models, and lessons learned; track and improve key metrics such as throughput, recipe robustness, and measurement precision.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills, practical experience, and interpersonal abilities required to perform the role.

• 3–8+ years experience in semiconductor applications, metrology, or process engineering (experience range indicated in posting).
• Practical knowledge of optical metrology techniques such as ellipsometry, reflectometry, and scatterometry.
• Experience with thin-film characterization and optical modeling; familiarity with techniques such as RCWA is beneficial.
• Experience integrating metrology into semiconductor process flows (logic, memory, or packaging).
• Strong data analysis and problem-solving skills; ability to set up and refine models to correlate results to customer reference methods.
• Customer-facing communication skills and the ability to execute demos, evaluations, and qualifications at customer sites.
• Ability to work independently and in cross-functional teams, with attention to detail and strong execution capability.
• Nice-to-have: Hands-on experience with OFM or similar metrology platforms; familiarity with advanced packaging or emerging device structures.

Education Requirements

Posting indicates advanced technical degrees: Master's or PhD in Materials Science, Physics, Electrical Engineering, or a related field are cited. Minimum-qualification guidance listed: Doctorate degree with 0 years related experience; Master’s degree with ~3 years related experience; Bachelor’s degree with ~5 years related experience.

About the Company

Company: KLA

Headquarters: Chennai, India

KLA is a global leader in diversified electronics for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. The company enables the production of electronic devices by inventing systems and solutions for manufacturing integrated circuits, wafers, and displays. With over 40 years of experience, KLA invests heavily in innovation and R&D to support advanced chip design and manufacturing process optimization, collaborating with top technology providers to deliver future electronic devices.