The strength of scanning NV is tracking currents and measuring current distributions in running devices. This opens a wide range of applications, from R&D over failure analysis to design verification.

Tracing current paths via their magnetic signal is a simple idea. But getting the sensitivity to track low currents with high resolution is very challenging, and one of the strengths of scanning NV. Detecting shorts is typically difficult for other methods, whereas scanning NV fully resolves the current paths.

Even as we approach the "Angstrom nodes", metal wire pitches in the latest generations of integrated circuits are in the order of 40 nm, which is easily manageable with scanning NV. More challenging are the sub μA currents, which require pulsed protocols.

Multiplexing different signals in the frequency domain broadens the scope and waveform reconstruction at single points provides information about issues such as impedance matching and reflections.

Current crowding can lead to electromigration, creating shorts or opens. Local hotspots can lead to thermal degradation.

Scanning NV can map out the current distribution in a running device with high resolution. Whether for thermal or reliability, this is data