QuantumDiamonds GmbH has announced plans to invest €152 million in a new production site in Munich, making it the world’s first manufacturing facility dedicated to next-generation quantum-based semiconductor inspection systems.
The move marks a major step in Europe’s efforts to strengthen its role in a global chip market increasingly defined by advanced packaging, artificial intelligence and geopolitical pressures.
The facility is expected to attract substantial public support from both the German Federal Government and the State of Bavaria through documents related to the European Chip Law.
Once operational, QuantumDiamonds will move from pilot-scale deployment to full industrial production, anchoring an important segment of the European semiconductor value chain.
Hubert Iwanger, Bavarian Minister of Economy, emphasized the importance of this facility:
“With its cutting-edge analytical technology, QuantumDiamonds shows how important innovation is to Europe’s semiconductor competitiveness.
“The planned support from the federal and Bavarian governments is an investment in quality jobs, technological sovereignty and the development of the region.”
Increasing chip complexity creates testing bottlenecks
The explosive growth in AI workloads has driven chipmakers to adopt denser and more complex architectures, including 2.5D and 3D integration.
Although these designs offer improved performance, they also pose serious yield problems. As failure mechanisms become harder to detect, traditional semiconductor inspection tools struggle to keep up, driving up costs, constraining supply, and slowing innovation cycles.
This testing bottleneck has become one of the most pressing challenges facing the semiconductor industry. Non-destructive fault isolation in advanced packages remains particularly difficult because many defects are invisible to thermal imaging or X-ray analysis once the chip is fully assembled.
Quantum sensing brings a new approach to chip testing
QuantumDiamonds’ technology addresses this gap by applying quantum sensing to semiconductor inspection.
The system uses diamond’s nitrogen vacancy centers to detect tiny magnetic fields generated by electrical current. By mapping these fields with micrometer precision, engineers can visualize current paths within complex chip packages within seconds without damaging the device.
This capability enables layer-specific analysis of through-silicon vias, microbumps, and chiplets, providing critical insights for debugging heterogeneous integration.
As advanced packaging becomes the norm in AI accelerators, mobile processors, and automotive electronics, these inspection methods are increasingly seen as a necessity rather than an option.
From proof of concept to global demand
This investment plan has undergone a period of strong commercial validation. QuantumDiamonds has completed proof-of-concept projects with nine of the world’s 10 largest semiconductor manufacturers, demonstrating the system’s applicability across state-of-the-art fabs.
Initial deployments are already underway in Europe, with additional deployments planned for the United States and Taiwan in early 2026.
This rapid adoption reflects the rapidly increasing demand for higher-performance semiconductor inspection solutions as manufacturers race to increase yields at advanced nodes. The expansion of production in Munich aims to meet this demand while keeping core know-how and manufacturing expertise within Europe.
Strengthening the position of European semiconductors
Europe currently accounts for about 10% of global semiconductor production, even though it is home to many of the world’s biggest chip consumers.
The European Chip Law aims to double that share by 2030 and reduce exposure to supply chain shocks and geopolitical risks. The expansion of QuantumDiamonds is closely aligned with this objective by strengthening Europe’s position not only in commodity manufacturing but also in high-value equipment.
The announcement comes alongside other major investments, including a planned 1.1 billion euro chip manufacturing expansion at Dresden-based GlobalFoundries, underscoring Germany’s growing ambitions to shape the global semiconductor landscape.
Building long-term industrial leverage
By localizing the production of advanced semiconductor testing systems, the Munich project is expected to maintain a key step in the value chain, develop specialized skills and increase Europe’s technological sovereignty.
Early support from the European Innovation Program helped lay the foundations for this scale-up, and anticipated support from the Chip Act will accelerate the transition to mass production.
As chips increase in complexity, the semiconductor industry’s success may increasingly depend on breakthroughs in inspection and testing. QuantumDiamonds’ €152 million bet signals that Europe intends to play a central role in delivering these breakthroughs.
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