QuantumDiamonds GmbH, a pioneer in quantum sensing for semiconductor inspection, today 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.
Bavarian Minister for Economic Affairs, Hubert Aiwanger, points out “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.”
Explosive demand for high-performance AI chips has exacerbated a key challenge for the semiconductor industry: As chips get denser and more powerful, yields are plummeting. That reduces supply, drives up costs, and slows innovation. Conventional testing approaches have not kept pace, and the search for a solution has become an industry obsession.
“Non-destructive fault isolation in advanced packaging is an incredibly difficult challenge that the industry is still working on to solve,” says Dr. David Su, the previous director of TSMC’s failure analysis team and now a QuantumDiamonds advisor. “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.”
QuantumDiamonds’ 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.
Following successful proof-of-concept projects with 9 of the 10 largest chip manufacturers in the world, QuantumDiamonds is experiencing surging demand for its systems. Initial deployments were completed in Europe, with further installations scheduled for Q1 2026 in both the United States and Taiwan.
Europe currently produces only about 10% of the world’s semiconductors, yet is home to some of the largest buyers of advanced chips and is highly exposed to supply-chain and geopolitical risk. The European Chips Act reflects a strategic ambition to double that share to 20% by 2030.
Source: Thequantuminsider