KLA Drives AI Through Advanced Semiconductor Process Control
The age of artificial intelligence (AI) has arrived. As AI systems grow in strength and pervasiveness, the semiconductor chips that power them must meet unprecedented performance demands. From including efficient parallel processing and rapid transfer of large data volumes, to optimal power consumption, these performance features are unlocking new potential for intelligent systems. Heightened performance is achieved by constructing components created from multiple leading-edge chips that push the boundaries of manufacturing: advanced node transistor technologies, large die sizes, stacked memory architectures, and heterogenous integration. These advancements in AI chip manufacturing present new challenges that demand sophisticated defect detection and critical parameter measurement at the nanoscale level. As leaders in advanced process control, KLA’s innovations are enabling the next generation of AI technology with a commitment to precision, performance and progress.
KLA’s Role in AI Chip Production
The complexity of AI chips is rapidly advancing. From a manufacturing perspective, this progress is not just about scaling existing technologies, though, it’s about reinventing how chips are designed, built and integrated. AI components are moving beyond traditional designs to multi-chip systems that incorporate GPUs featuring advanced node, 3D transistor structures, very large die sizes and high bandwidth memory (HBM) composed of multiple stacked DRAM chips that have reduced redundancy and more sophisticated logic circuitry in the base chips. These innovations, alongside new advanced packaging techniques, are placing pressure on manufacturing precision and quality control.
As transistors shrink to atomic scales and device structures become more densely packed, even the slightest process variation or nanoscale defect can compromise yield, reliability or semiconductor chip performance. KLA’s tools and technologies are essential for ensuring that each layer, structure and interconnect is fabricated with accuracy.
Rick Wallace, President and CEO, KLA
The proliferation of AI is not only an enabler of KLA technology, but a driver of our business as the industry invests in developing new advanced logic devices, high-bandwidth memory and advanced packaging processes – all of which represent large opportunities for the application of KLA technology.
KLA’s comprehensive product portfolio supports every stage of chip manufacturing, from the atomic-scale architectures of logic and memory devices to the sophisticated layers of advanced packaging. Our tools monitor and help control thousands of process steps, ensuring each one meets the highest standards of precision. Without the ability to detect nanoscale defects and variations, and optimize production at every level, manufacturing these powerful AI chips would be impossible.
What truly sets KLA apart is how we use AI to enhance our inspection and metrology capabilities. By embedding AI-driven algorithms into our tools, KLA accelerates data analysis, improves defect detection and transforms raw production data into actionable insights. AI helps build better chips, and better chips enable smarter AI. This feedback loop positions KLA as both a catalyst and a beneficiary of the AI revolution.
KLA’s Semiconductor Solutions Power AI
As artificial intelligence redefines the limits of what technology can achieve, KLA stands at the leading edge—enabling the breakthroughs that power tomorrow’s world. We are true architects building the foundation of AI. Our relentless commitment to precision and innovation ensures that every advancement in chip design is equally matched by transformative progress in inspection, metrology and process control solutions. At KLA, we don’t just support the future of AI chip advancement. We enable it.
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