[3] KLA Instruments was founded in 1975 by Ken Levy and Bob Anderson, and focused on photomask detection to identify chip defects.

[5][6] 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.

[3] In February 1998, KLA-Tencor acquired Freiburg, Germany-based Nanopro GmbH, a company that used advanced interferometric technology for wafer shape and thickness measurements.

[7] In April, the company acquired Amray, Inc., a Bedford, Massachusetts-based provider of scanning electron microscope (SEM) systems for applications including semiconductor manufacturing.

[12] In March, the company acquired Austin, Texas-based advanced process control (APC) software developer Fab Solutions, from parent ObjectSpace.

[21] In March 2018, KLA-Tencor announced an agreement to acquire Yavne, Israel-based automated optical inspection equipment vendor Orbotech for approximately $3.4 billion.

[22] Orbotech also owned Newport, Wales, 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.

[29] In January 2008, KLA paid $65 million to settle allegations that the company and certain executives had illegally backdated stock option grants.