Applications · Semiconductors & industry
See the current inside the chip.
As chips stack into 2.5D and 3D packages, the faults that matter hide in layers that light and electrons struggle to reach. A quantum diamond microscope images the magnetic field of the current itself, at room temperature, with a measurement that does not alter the part.
Where we stand
Adjacent market. The same physics as navigation, used for imaging. No instrument offered today.
The domain
The faults that matter are buried.
Advanced packaging stacks silicon into dense 2.5D and 3D structures. When a part fails, the defect is often several layers down, hard to reach with optical and electron methods.
Every current creates a magnetic field, and that field passes through layers that block light. Imaging it shows where the current actually flows, and where it should not. A quantum diamond microscope maps those fields across a surface, turning a magnetic image into a picture of buried current paths, shorts and defects. The same principle applies to industrial inspection, where many hidden flaws in welds, batteries and critical parts change the local magnetic field.
Why diamond
A magnetic picture of where the current flows.
Non-destructive measurement
It images the field the part produces when powered. The measurement itself does not alter the part. Some samples still need preparation to bring the sensor close.
A whole area at once
A thin layer of NV centres images a field of view in one go, rather than scanning point by point.
Room temperature
No cryogenics and no vacuum, so it can sit in an ordinary analysis laboratory.
Static fields too
It reads static and slowly varying fields, which methods based on induced currents do not see directly.
What carries over
The same diamond and readout, used for imaging.
Magnetic imaging of chips with diamond has been shown in research laboratories, and instruments of this kind already exist. What we would bring is what we develop for navigation: the diamond material, its optical readout, and software that gives each value with its uncertainty.
Questions
The basics, answered.
What is a quantum diamond microscope?
A quantum diamond microscope uses a thin layer of nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond to image magnetic fields across a surface. Because every electrical current produces a magnetic field, it can map where current flows, at room temperature, with a measurement that does not alter the sample.
How does it find defects inside a chip?
Magnetic fields pass through the layers of a package that block light. By imaging the field of a powered chip, the microscope shows where current actually flows, which reveals shorts, opens and buried defects. The farther a current lies from the diamond, the coarser its image, so depth sets what can be resolved.
What can it inspect beyond semiconductors?
The same principle applies to non-destructive testing: many hidden flaws in welds, batteries and critical metal parts change the local magnetic field in a way a diamond sensor can read, including static fields.
Does Spectral Flow sell a diamond microscope?
No. Semiconductors and industry are an adjacent market for the diamond material and readout that Spectral Flow develops for navigation, its first application.
Failure analysis or inspection where conventional methods stop?
We would like to hear from teams in advanced packaging, energy storage and critical-parts inspection. Tell us what you need to see.
Get in touchOne diamond platform