Exponential sums over finite fields and the large sieve

By using a variant of Kowalski's large sieve for Frobenius in compatible systems, we obtain zero-density estimates for arguments of $\ell$-adic trace functions over finite fields with values in some algebraic subsets of the cyclotomic integers, when the monodromy groups are known. This applies in particular to hyper-Kloosterman sums and general exponential sums considered by Katz.