First Quantum Diamond Microscopy System Lands in US for Advanced Chip Failure Analysis
QuantumDiamonds GmbH, the developer of quantum sensing based semiconductor inspection systems, has announced the successful installation of its QD m.1 system at Eurofins EAG Laboratories in Sunnyvale, California. The deployment marks the first North American installation of a commercial quantum diamond microscopy (QDM) system and extends non-destructive magnetic current imaging to failure analysis laboratories serving the US semiconductor market.
QDM uses nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centres in synthetic diamond to detect the magnetic fields produced by electrical current flowing inside a device. By mapping these fields at room temperature and without contact, vacuum, or sample preparation, the system reconstructs three-dimensional current-pathway images of fully assembled packages — including 2.5D interposers, 3D stacked die, and backside power delivery networks — with micrometre lateral resolution. Electrical faults including opens, partial opens, shorts, and current-path anomalies appear as direct visual anomalies in the current map, enabling failure analysis engineers to direct subsequent physical analysis to a precise location on the first attempt.
The technique complements existing X-ray CT and thermography workflows by providing current-based rather than structural or thermal contrast, detecting electrically active failures that are physically intact and therefore invisible to conventional non-destructive methods.
“Chip fabs are pushing the boundaries of what is physically possible in chip design, and our job is to give them the tools to understand what is happening inside those devices when things go wrong,” said Fleming Bruckmaier, co-founder and CTO of QuantumDiamonds. “The QD m.1 gives engineers a fundamentally new way to analyze and improve advanced packaging and high-density interconnects — non-destructively, in three dimensions, and at a speed that fits their workflow.”
The QD m.1 is the world’s first commercially available integrated quantum sensing system for semiconductor inspection. Based on patented QDM technology, it maps magnetic fields generated by current flow inside a device using a widefield diamond sensor operating at room temperature, recovering spatially resolved current density maps across centimetre-scale packages in seconds to minutes. The system localises electrical faults, including opens, the industry’s most common yield-killing failure mode in advanced packaging, as intuitive visual markers that co-register with GDS layout data, compressing failure analysis cycles from hours to minutes without mechanical preparation or sample destruction.
Eurofins EAG Laboratories, one of the world’s most respected independent providers of materials characterization, failure analysis, and semiconductor testing services, selected the QD m.1 to extend its failure analysis capabilities for customers operating at the most advanced technology nodes and packaging architectures. The system is now fully operational at Eurofins EAG’s Sunnyvale facility, situated at the heart of Silicon Valley’s global semiconductor community. The installation builds on a longstanding and productive collaboration between QuantumDiamonds and Eurofins EAG Laboratories.
“Eurofins EAG Laboratories is exactly the right partner to introduce quantum sensing to the North American semiconductor market,” said Kevin Berghoff, co-founder and CEO of QuantumDiamonds. “Their partnership is a signal to the entire US semiconductor ecosystem that quantum sensing is here, it works, and it is ready for the most demanding challenges in the field.”
The US installation comes as QuantumDiamonds experiences strong and growing demand across the global semiconductor ecosystem, with nine of the world’s top ten chipmakers already engaged with the company. The QD m.1 is being deployed at leading failure analysis laboratories and semiconductor manufacturers worldwide, with active validation engagements underway across Asia’s most advanced chip manufacturing markets.
For more information: www.qd-st.com
