QuantumDiamonds GmbH, a pioneer in quantum sensing for semiconductor inspection, announced a €152 million investment plan to establish the world’s first production facility for advanced chip testing systems.
The Munich facility is seen as a key strategic asset in increasing European leverage in the global semiconductor industry, and is expected to receive tens of millions of euros in public support from the German federal and Bavarian governments under the European Chips Act.
QuantumDiamonds said its QDM systems harness nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond to map electrical current with micrometer precision — non-destructively and within seconds — inside even the most complex chip packages.
This capability is especially critical for advanced 2.5D and 3D architectures that underpin AI, mobile and automotive electronics.
Bavarian Minister for Economic Affairs Hubert Aiwanger said: “The new site in eastern Munich sends a strong signal for the future of our microelectronics ecosystem.
“With its cutting-edge analysis technologies, QuantumDiamonds shows how vital innovation is for Europe’s semiconductor competitiveness.
“The planned support from the federal and Bavarian governments is an investment in high-quality jobs, technological sovereignty, and our region’s progress.”
David Su, the previous director of TSMC’s failure analysis team and now a QuantumDiamonds advisor, said: “Non-destructive fault isolation in advanced packaging is an incredibly difficult challenge that the industry is still working on to solve.
“This technology shows significant promise in addressing that gap. By detecting magnetic fields to trace current, it offers a potential pathway to visualize defects that are currently invisible to standard thermal or X-ray tools.”
Fleming Bruckmaier, QuantumDiamonds CTO and co-founder, said: “Our tools give fabs layer-specific insight into current paths in TSVs, microbumps, and chiplets without opening the package.
“As heterogeneous integration becomes the norm, this level of inspection is no longer optional but essential.”