A Danish-Dutch consortium has secured about 5.7 million euros to develop a quantum-based failure analysis tool for the semiconductor industry. The Next Generation Quantum Diamond Magnetic Microscope (NG-QDMM) project will build a next-generation quantum diamond magnetic microscope capable of mapping electrical currents inside advanced chips non-destructively and in real time. The Dutch contribution comes from Enschede-based Eurofins Maser, a provider of reliability test and failure analysis services.
NG-QDMM’s approach leverages NV centers in synthetic diamond to sense extremely weak magnetic fields generated by on-chip currents. This enables sub-micrometer resolution imaging without physical contact, effectively providing ‘a magnetic X-ray’ of chip operation. The consortium aims to deliver a lab-ready prototype with a roadmap toward near-line and eventually in-line production monitoring.
Led by Diasense, a spinout from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), the project combines quantum sensing research from DTU with industrial integration by Force Technology and metrology expertise from DFM. Eurofins Maser’s validation work connects the platform to a range of semiconductor technologies and benchmarking environments.
The project’s total budget is 5.7 million euros, which includes a 3.9-million-euro investment from the Innovation Fund Denmark.
