Abstract Accurate classification of wafer map defects is crucial for enhancing semiconductor yield and diagnosing process irregularities. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have demonstrated impressive performance on the WM-811K wafer map dataset; nevertheless, as structures become more complex, their processing requirements increase. The possibility for more compact representations and effective training through quantum parallelism is shown by recent developments in quantum machine learning (QML), namely quantum neural networks and quantum convolutional models. Inspired by these advancements, this work proposes a hybrid framework for wafer defect classification that combines a Quantum Convolutional Neural Network (QCNN) with a classical CNN (CCNN). As far as we are aware, this is the first time a QCNN has been used for semiconductor wafer map analysis. Experimental results reveal that while the QCNN achieves accuracy ( R 2 = 99.38%) comparable to the CCNN ( R 2 = 99.32%), it greatly decreases training time due to the low-overhead Simultaneous Perturbation Stochastic Approximation (SPSA) optimizer and the compactness of quantum circuits. These results demonstrate the potential of quantum-enhanced architectures for semiconductor analytics in the future as quantum hardware develops.
Abstract Accurate classification of wafer map defects is crucial for enhancing semiconductor yield and diagnosing process irregularities. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have demonstrated impressive performance on the WM-811K wafer map dataset; nevertheless, as structures become more complex, their processing requirements increase. The possibility for more compact representations and effective training through quantum parallelism is shown by recent developments in quantum machine learning (QML), namely quantum neural networks and quantum convolutional models. Inspired by these advancements, this work proposes a hybrid framework for wafer defect classification that combines a Quantum Convolutional Neural Network (QCNN) with a classical CNN (CCNN). As far as we are aware, this is the first time a QCNN has been used for semiconductor wafer map analysis. Experimental results reveal that while the QCNN achieves accuracy ( R 2 = 99.38%) comparable to the CCNN ( R 2 = 99.32%), it greatly decreases training time due to the low-overhead Simultaneous Perturbation Stochastic Approximation (SPSA) optimizer and the compactness of quantum circuits. These results demonstrate the potential of quantum-enhanced architectures for semiconductor analytics in the future as quantum hardware develops.
This research work on the well-known WM811K wafer map dataset intends to integrate the insights provided by wafer manufacturing techniques and the computing power of quantum convolutional neural networks (QCNN) approach. The work begins with demonstrating high accuracy (𝑹 𝟐 =99.32%) of the classical convolutional neural network (CCNN) consisting of three consecutive convolution layers on the WM-811K dataset. In later part of the paper, optimized for multi-class classification, the applied QCNN model consisting of four qubits used for convolutional and pooling layers exhibit 99.38% accuracy. The QCNN model establishes supremacy over CCNN model by reducing time requirement to train the model for classifying defects on the wafer images.
This research work on the well-known WM811K wafer map dataset intends to integrate the insights provided by wafer manufacturing techniques and the computing power of quantum convolutional neural networks (QCNN) approach. The work begins with demonstrating high accuracy (𝑹 𝟐 =99.32%) of the classical convolutional neural network (CCNN) consisting of three consecutive convolution layers on the WM-811K dataset. In later part of the paper, optimized for multi-class classification, the applied QCNN model consisting of four qubits used for convolutional and pooling layers exhibit 99.38% accuracy. The QCNN model establishes supremacy over CCNN model by reducing time requirement to train the model for classifying defects on the wafer images.
Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) are extensively utilized for image classification due to their ability to exploit data correlations effectively. However, traditional CNNs encounter several challenges, including limitations in accuracy improvement, computational efficiency, explain ability, and generalization. As data dimensionality or model complexity increases, CNNs often become more difficult to train efficiently, leading to slower processing times. To overcome these challenges, Quantum Convolutional Neural Networks (QCNNs) offer a promising quantum-based approach to enhance existing models, particularly by improving training efficiency and reducing processing times. This paper provides a comparative analysis of classical CNNs and a novel quantum circuit architecture tailored for image-based tasks. The analysis emphasizes the adaptability and potential of quantum circuits to enhance feature extraction, recognition accuracy, and processing efficiency.We applied various QCNN architectures to the Chinese-MNIST dataset and compared their performance with traditional CNN models. Although QCNNs achieved slightly lower accuracy, they demonstrated significantly greater stability. These findings high- light QCNNs’ potential to overcome the computational limitations of conventional deep learning, offering a promising pathway for quantum-enhanced solutions in computer vision. Future work will focus on refining quantum circuit designs, developing hybrid quantum-classical models, and extending QCNN applications to larger and more diverse datasets.
Abstract Quantum Machine Learning (QML) has emerged as a promising paradigm that leverages the principles of quantum mechanics—such as superposition and entanglement—to overcome the limitations of classical machine learning in handling complex, high-dimensional data. However, practical challenges such as limited coherence times of qubits and the integration of quantum circuits with classical architectures have hindered the full realization of QML’s potential. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a novel hybrid architecture, termed the Classical-Quantum Hybrid Convolutional Neural Network (CQHCNN), which integrates quantum-inspired layers into conventional deep learning frameworks. These quantum layers utilize quantum information processing to extract complex features, while the classical components perform feature extraction and classification. This paper evaluates the performance of our model on several benchmark datasets, including MNIST, Fashion-MNIST, CIFAR-10 and COVID-19 Radiography, demonstrating its ability to outperform some other Quantum Convolutional Neural Networks (QCNNs) in terms of many metrics. Experimental results indicate that the hybrid model achieves significant improvements in classification accuracy and computational efficiency, highlighting the potential of quantum-inspired techniques to enhance classical machine learning models.
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in leveraging the unique properties of quantum computing to develop novel machine learning algorithms and architectures. This research paper presents an investigation of quantum convolutional neural networks (QCNNs), which leverage the unique properties of quantum computing to potentially improve the accuracy and efficiency of image classification tasks. Specifically, the paper explores three different QCNN architectures, including a pure quantum-based QCNN, a hybrid QCNN with a single quantum convolution layer, and a hybrid convolutional architecture with multiple quantum filters. We tested the models on MNIST dataset and the results of the study demonstrate that hybrid architectures that combine quantum and classical processing are more effective than pure quantum-based architectures in image classification tasks. In particular, the third model, the Hybrid Convolution with Multiple Quantum Filters, achieved the highest test set accuracy of 92.7%. The use of multiple quantum filters in conjunction with a classical neural network resulted in enhanced accuracy and efficiency in image classification tasks, highlighting the potential of hybrid architectures for future applications in machine learning tasks.
As image datasets grow in scale and complexity, classical convolutional neural networks (CNNs) increasingly face limitations in computational efficiency, scalability, and generalisation in low-data regimes. Quantum machine learning (QML) offers a promising alternative, with quantum convolutional neural networks (QCNNs) exploiting quantum parallelism and entanglement for feature extraction. This paper introduces the Novel Quantum Convolutional Neural Network (No-QCNN), which differs from recent hybrid QCNN/QCQ-CNN architectures by employing an end-to-end quantum convolution-pooling pipeline without inserting an intermediate classical CNN block. No-QCNN is a hybrid quantum-classical model that employs a variational quantum classifier (VQC) optimised via the COBYLA algorithm and is designed for binary and multiclass classification of low-resolution colour images on near-term quantum devices. A key innovation is a problem-specific quantum feature map that pre-processes each image into a structured three-dimensional block-matrix representation, jointly encoding pixel colour (R, G, B) and spatial position before mapping this information into a hierarchical ZZFeatureMap. This encoding captures spatial-chromatic correlations at shallow circuit depth, making it compatible with noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) constraints. The model is implemented using IBM-Qiskit on a local quantum simulator and benchmarked against a classical CNN. For a six-class classification task on a 50-image dataset, No-QCNN achieves a validation accuracy of 82.05%, substantially outperforming the classical CNN's 40.00%, indicating improved generalisation and reduced overfitting in low-data, multiclass settings. Conversely, for a simpler binary classification task, the classical CNN achieves perfect validation accuracy of 100%, surpassing the No-QCNN's 89.7%. We further observe that No-QCNN performance declines with increasing dataset size and training time due to limited circuit expressibility, data-encoding overhead, and finite-sampling noise inherent to NISQ models. Overall, these results position No-QCNN as a complementary framework best suited to low-data, correlation-rich classification tasks, defining a realistic niche for quantum-enhanced artificial vision and quantum perception in the NISQ era.