this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2023
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Sam Zeloof
You know how modern semiconductor components are made in billion-dollar fabs? Well, you can actually make them in a garage, at least simple ones.
Damn, he's got a lot of equipment though. I was hoping I could just setup a jig with 2x4s and melt sand with a blowtorch
Most of it isn't strictly necessary. Like, he has sputtering equipment for making layers that can't be chemically deposited for example. The one where he makes a MOSFET on camera involves just spin coating with tape and some random motor, a little tube furnace to bake impurities in and chemical etching IIRC.
He uses commercially available blank wafers; you'd need a small arc furnace (or at least a blast furnace and patience when your product is mostly iron) to make silicon from sand and something resembling a meth lab to clean it (and then you'd grow and cut your wafer, but that could be done on a desk I'm sure).
Wait this is incredible.
I don’t even know how to hold a hammer correctly let alone solder a chip, but I might have to try a new hobby.
It didn't look that hard in the transistor video, actually. His layers were in no way straight or pretty, all that matters is the topology and timing on the baking steps.