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Q&A A Conversation with George Kren, Winner of the 2004 SEMI Award for North America Unpatterned wafer inspection has evolved with sophistication to capture defects as small as 30 nm in a single scan. But even as the technology behind systems such as the Surfscan® SP2 grows more complex, one of its pioneers—KLA-Tencor’s George Kren—still prefers to keep things simple and unpretentious. So when Kren was presented recently with a 2004 SEMI Award for North America, it’s not surprising that all of the attention he has received has made him feel a little uncomfortable. “The award is really an honor more for the Surfscan Division than for me,” says an appreciative Kren. “It’s a nice feeling, but the main value goes to the division for creating a solution that is now the industry standard.” As one of the founders of Tencor Instruments, Kren, currently vice president of business development at KLA-Tencor, has been a key contributor in the development of all the Surfscan platforms. A native of Prague, Czech Republic, he holds more than 20 patents. Kren sat down recently with YMS Magazine to share his thoughts about the award, Surfscan technology, and life in general.
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What are some of the key challenges in unpatterned wafer inspection technology?
sophisticated tools with defect classification capabilities, that could be used in an automated factory environment.
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Fabs need to control costs by limiting the number of monitor wafers used. Inspection instruments need to be highly accurate, so that the same monitor wafer could be used multiple times before cleaning. The trend is also moving toward more sensitive and
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Winter 2005
Describe the early years at Tencor Instruments.
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Working for a start-up was exciting, though we probably had very few free weekends, and 16-hour days were not uncommon. Our first product was a profilometer, AlphaStep
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100, that was developed in just six months. We even assembled it ourselves, and it was very successful. Back then, we had no idea how far our business would grow. One of our first Surfscan customers only wanted to borrow our tool to resolve a contamination issue—now they’re convinced that unpatterned wafer inspection is worthwhile and they’re one of our largest customers. When, around 1987, fabs
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began using the term ‘Surfscanning,’ we knew that we had something special.
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What is exciting to you about working in technology?
A You get a good feeling from making a contribution to the industry or your company. In Czechoslovakia, I worked for a National Research Institute where whatever I did was essentially thrown into the waste basket—there simply was no appreciation. But coming to the U.S. and starting small and seeing what you and your peers can accomplish—that’s a thrill.
to a Communist country. And after driving cross-country from Boston to California, I knew that I would want to make my home in California.
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What are some of your interests outside of technology?
How was your transition into life in the U.S.?
A I have a weekend home in Monterey, where I enjoy walking along the beach and listening to the ocean. Perhaps I enjoy this so much now because we didn’t have ocean access in Czechoslovakia. My teenage daughter is another joy in my life. She’s a high school junior right now, an aspiring independent filmmaker spending all her summers studying film-making in London.
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Before emigrating in 1973, I had spent a year in the U.S. as a student, living half the time in Boston and the rest in California, so when I moved here, I never felt like an immigrant. During my visit, it also became clear to me that I would not want to return
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In your view, what makes simplicity a virtue?
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Engineers tend to make things more and more complex. But, as Einstein said, ‘Things should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler.’ In its purest form, simplicity can save costs. That’s what I try to impart to the young engineers on our team.
Are you a great adopter of the technologies that your innovations support?
A I’m not a gadget freak. I have a couple of computers, but other than that, I prefer simplicity. Winter 2005
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