ASML spinout Invisix has secured €20 million to explore what optics cannot visualize within the chips.

      Modern chips encounter a measurement dilemma that feels almost philosophical: their complexity has made them too intricate to inspect. As logic and memory devices are layered in three dimensions and reduced to mere nanometers, the optical tools used to examine each layer are unable to resolve the hidden structures within.

      Invisix, a startup from Eindhoven derived from ASML, has secured €20 million to address this issue. The oversubscribed seed funding round attracted contributions from Hitachi Ventures, Transition Ventures, imec.xpand, Doosan Investment Co., and, as described by the company, a tier-1 semiconductor manufacturer. The identity of this anonymous investor is significant in an industry where chipmakers seldom invest in tools they do not plan to use; prior reports have suggested that Samsung may have invested in the company as it seeks to improve yields for its 2nm process. Invisix intends to utilize the funding to expand its team, create its first market-ready system, and conduct customer demonstrations from a new cleanroom in Eindhoven.

      The challenge it addresses is a yield issue, which translates to financial concerns in the semiconductor realm. The fabrication of a chip involves a layer-by-layer process, and without the ability to confirm the accuracy of a printed layer before adding the next, the process becomes uncertain. Currently, this often results in slow, costly, and sometimes destructive inspections, where finished wafers must be sliced apart for evaluation. In a business where even slight yield improvements can translate into billions and where being the first to achieve a new node is critical, this gap poses a significant threat.

      Invisix’s solution draws upon the principles that inspired lithography: to observe smaller entities, one should utilize shorter wavelengths. Their system employs high-harmonic generation—a concept recognized in the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, and Anne L'Huillier from Lund University. A short-pulse laser excites noble-gas atoms, causing them to emit soft x-rays across multiple wavelengths simultaneously, yielding a richer 3D signal compared to a single-color laser. The company pairs this with reconstruction algorithms and machine learning to reconstruct a device's internal structure without causing damage.

      What makes this investment noteworthy for a seed-stage hardware company is the degree of risk that has already been mitigated. Invisix has licensed a comprehensive soft x-ray technology package, developed over more than a decade within ASML, and its team comprises veterans of that program, along with senior hires like COO Roald Dogge, who previously worked at contract manufacturer NTS.

      The company asserts it showcased this approach publicly in 2023 with Intel and imec, successfully measuring features in gate-all-around transistors, one of the most challenging targets for existing metrology tools. The broader context involves a continent striving to retain its leadership in certain segments of the chip supply chain. The Netherlands is home to ASML and a network of Dutch and Belgian deep-tech funds, including imec.xpand, which currently support the startups emerging in this space.

      Invisix possesses the testing infrastructure, the expertise, and the cleanroom; the forthcoming challenge is the rigorous transition from demonstration to a system capable of operating at volume in a fabrication facility.