Quantum semiconductor testing startup QuantumDiamonds has deployed its QDm.1 system at the Integrated Service Technology (iST) facility in Hsinchu, Taiwan.

The QDm.1 is now operational within iST’s failure analysis laboratory and marks the Munich-based company’s first installation in Asia. Last month, QuantumDiamonds installed its first QDm.1 system at the Eurofins EAG Laboratories in Sunnyvale, California.

According to QuantumDiamonds, the system uses “patented Quantum Diamond Microscopy (QDM) to perform non-destructive, high-resolution 3D imaging of current pathways within complex semiconductor architectures.”

Using nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers that are found in diamonds to precisely map electrical currents, the technology helps to address failure analysis challenges in 2.5D and 3D integrated circuits, backside power delivery networks, and wide-bandgap materials such as Gallium Nitride (GaN) and Silicon Carbide (SiC).

As a result, engineers are able to inspect high-density interconnects without damaging the underlying device.

“Completing our first Asia installation at iST is a defining moment for QuantumDiamonds,” said Peter Lemmens, managing director APAC at QuantumDiamonds.

“Hsinchu is home to some of the most sophisticated chip manufacturing and testing operations in the world. Being embedded here, in partnership with a laboratory of iST’s caliber, gives us an outstanding platform to demonstrate what quantum sensing can deliver – and to build from.”

Kevin Berghoff, CEO of QuantumDiamonds, added: “Taiwan is the epicenter of advanced semiconductor manufacturing, and iST is one of the most respected failure analysis laboratories in the region. This installation is more than a commercial milestone – it is validation that quantum sensing is ready for the most demanding real-world environments in the industry. We are proud to partner with iST and look forward to supporting their customers with a capability that simply did not exist before.”

Spun out of the Technical University of Munich in 2022, QuantumDiamonds has received €152 million ($131m) in investment, supported by the European Chips Act, to establish a production facility in Munich, Germany, dedicated to quantum-based inspection hardware.