Broadband Plasma wafer inspection (39xx) by KLA: status and timeline

Broadband Plasma wafer inspection (39xx)

Catch yield-killing defects within hours of the step that made them, so fabs can fix a process before thousands of costly wafers are lost.

ScalingStage 5 of 5

39xx series serves 5 nm-and-below logic and leading memory; FY2026 process control revenue $12.2B.

Updated 28 Jul 2026Checked 11 Oct0 updates this week

Milestones

No announced next step

eSL10 e-beam inspector paired with 39xx 'Gen5'Jul 2020Complete.
FY2026 revenue $13.58B, process control $12.2B28 Jul 2026Complete.

Most important updates

Current obstacles

3D chips hide their defectsGate-all-around transistors and stacked memory bury defects inside structures that light struggles to probe.
Export limits on ChinaKLA expects China to stay at roughly a mid-to-high-20s percent share of sales, exposed to tightening US export rules.

Physics limits

Light cannot sharply image below its wavelengthDiffraction blurs anything much smaller than about half the wavelength. Deep-UV light is around 200 nm, while killer defects are a few nm, so tools detect scattered signal rather than a clear picture.
Electrons see more but scan slowlyElectron beams resolve nanometres, but each pixel takes time to collect and charge builds up on the wafer. Inspecting a full wafer this way would take far too long.
Signal fades faster than defects shrinkLight scattered by a tiny particle falls roughly with the sixth power of its size, so halving a defect's size makes it about 64 times harder to see.

How it works

4 parts

Light

A plasma lamp in deep ultraviolet

A plasma source gives bright light across many deep-UV wavelengths; the tool picks bands that make each layer's defects stand out.

Compare

Spot what differs

Sensors image each chip and compare it with its neighbours or the design. Anything that differs is a candidate defect.

Sort

AI separates killers from noise

Deep-learning algorithms throw out harmless variation and keep the defects that matter, which are then sent to e-beam review.

E-beam

Electrons for a closer look

Electron-beam tools such as eSL10 and eDR image suspects at far higher resolution, revealing buried and tiny flaws light misses.

Spec sheet

Spec	Broadband Plasma wafer inspection (39xx)
Target node (3935 / 3920 EP)	5 nm and below logic, leading memory^R (reported)
Light source	Broadband plasma, super-resolution deep-UV bands^R (reported)
eSL10 data per scan	10 billion pixels^R (reported)
Process control revenue FY2026	$12.2B^R (reported)

^R reported by the company

Papers & demos

1 item

20 Jul 2020blog
eSL10 e-beam patterned-wafer defect inspection system introduced (opens prnewswire.com)A single high-current electron beam plus deep learning finds defects that optical and earlier e-beam tools miss.

Update log

2 updates

Tue 28 Jul

Major: KLA fiscal 2026 revenue reaches $13.58B; guides about $4.0B for the September quarterFilingCommercial

Mon 20 Jul 2020

Minor: KLA introduces eSL10 e-beam inspector to catch defects optical tools missPressHardware

About KLA

The team behind Broadband Plasma wafer inspection (39xx)

KLA

Wafer inspection, metrology, packaging process control

KLA makes the machines that find defects and measure patterns on chips as they are made, so factories catch problems before they ruin whole batches of wafers. It is the largest supplier of this process-control equipment, with $13.6B revenue in fiscal 2026.

FY2026 (to June) revenue was $13.58B; process control alone brought in $12.2B.
Expects about $1.1B from advanced-packaging inspection in 2026, as AI chips stack dies and memory.
Analyst estimates put its process-control market share at over six times that of its nearest rival.

kla.com (opens kla.com)Company profile →

Founded: 197551 yrs
Headquarters: United States
Status: Public
Listed: KLAC (opens google.com)NASDAQ
Valuation: public
Staff: ~15,000Jan 2025
Works in: ComputingChipmaking tools
Coverage: 2 programs · 5 updateslatest 28 Jul 2026checked 11 Oct
People: Rick Wallace (opens en.wikipedia.org)President and CEOBren HigginsEVP and CFO

Spec

Broadband Plasma wafer inspection (39xx)

Target node (3935 / 3920 EP)

5 nm and below logic, leading memory^R (reported)

Light source

Broadband plasma, super-resolution deep-UV bands^R (reported)

eSL10 data per scan

10 billion pixels^R (reported)

Process control revenue FY2026

$12.2B^R (reported)