TCS & IIT-Bombay to build India’s first Quantum Diamond Microchip Imager

The Quantum Diamond Microchip Imager, an advanced sensing tool for semiconductor chip imaging, will help reduce chances of chip failures and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has entered a strategic partnership with the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-Bombay), to develop India’s first Quantum Diamond Microchip Imager. 

This advanced sensing tool will hold the potential to unlock new levels of precision in the examination of semiconductor chips, reduce chip failures and improve the energy efficiency of electronic devices.

Over the next two years, experts from TCS will work with Dr. Kasturi Saha, Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering of IIT-Bombay to develop the quantum imaging platform in the PQuest Lab. 

This platform will enable better quality control of semiconductor chips, thereby improving product reliability, safety, and energy efficiency of electrical devices. 

Semiconductor chips are an essential component of all modern electronic devices, making them smart and efficient. 

With the ability to process data and complete tasks, these chips act as the brain of devices across industries such as communications, computing, healthcare, military systems, transportation, clean energy, and more.

The collaboration between TCS and IIT-Bombay is aligned with the National Quantum Mission – an initiative by the government of India to position the nation as a global quantum technology leader. 

An indigenous Quantum Diamond Microchip Imager that integrates quantum diamond microscopy with AI/ML-powered software imaging will help India leap ahead in the Quantum Revolution.

As semiconductors continue to shrink in size, traditional sensing methods lack the precision and capabilities to detect anomalies in the chips. 

The Quantum Diamond Microchip Imager can image magnetic fields, enabling a non-invasive and non-destructive mapping of semiconductor chips, much like an MRI at a hospital. 

It uses the defects in a diamond’s structure, known as Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) centers, together with the other hardware and software for detecting and characterizing anomalies in semiconductor chips.

These diagnostic capabilities will have significant implications for failure analysis, device development, and various optimization processes.

With its advanced capabilities to identify chip defects such as current leakages and enable visualization of three-dimensional charge flow in multi-layer chips, Quantum Diamond Microchip Imager is a leap forward in semiconductor imaging.

It will have wide applications in microelectronics, biological, and geological imaging, and fine-scale imaging of magnetic fields, among others.

This project builds on TCS and IIT-B’s dynamic partnership since the 1990s, spanning joint research projects, collaborative education programs, internships, faculty development programs, and more. 

Notably, IIT-B was the first institute to be signed as an academic partner for TCS’ Co-Innovation Network (COIN), a platform driving industry-academia collaboration for pioneering solutions