Scanning NV Microscopy - Tracing Currents at the Nanometer Scale

Non-destructive failure analysis is often limited to optical methods, which cannot provide the resolution necessary for analysing state-of-the-art integrated circuits. Here, we present powerful methods for both dc and ac currents based on scanning a single Nitrogen Vacancy center over the sample. This results in quantitative current density maps with high sensitivity and sub-50 nm resolution, detecting for example, open and short circuits. We demonstrate the technology by mapping dc current flow in a maze of 30 nm wide wires and ac current flow with decreasing current density in cascading structure with similar wire width.