Wow! You could make videos about all the details, and we'd watch every minute :)

@stuartkerr1012

2 жыл бұрын

Yes I know I would!

@great__success

2 жыл бұрын

Details, like for example at 3:52, how come the middle section of SiO2 and Poly stays intact after etching ? (maybe I missed something)

@Ryan6.022

2 жыл бұрын

Very much so this is just way too short for such an amazing accomplishment

@meh583

2 жыл бұрын

YES!

@alexa.davronov1537

2 жыл бұрын

Well well well! Yeah, we certainly need some APPLIED SCIENCE here.

I'm extremely surprised how not only he knows how to make the 2nd gen chip at home by himself, but what's even more impressive is that he explained it all basically in under 6 minutes only.

@deang5622

Жыл бұрын

If you've done a degree in electronics at universities, some universities have professional grade equipment for making integrated circuits, so that is one way the knowledge can be obtained.

@TheSonofseventhson

Жыл бұрын

"home" bruh, did you see all the equipmement he have?

@richie1002

Жыл бұрын

Eh, I’m fine with it. It is more self explanatory to layman like me than something like “home lab made silicon chip”. Actually, that’s more explanatory, but I’m still fine with homemade.

@realdragon

Жыл бұрын

I still don't understand it

@luxraider5384

Жыл бұрын

@@TheSonofseventhson he probably has 50k worth of equipment

This is amazing. How do you repeatably index the projection?

@SamZeloof

Жыл бұрын

Thanks!! It’s a microscope so I look thru the eyepiece and move the XY around, the projected image is visible on the chip. First I project it using red light for alignment, then switch to UV for exposure once everything’s right

@blacdiamond2334

Жыл бұрын

@@SamZeloof Your project is really cool! I can only imagine your homemade silicone chips improving! Do you think if making a mold(the mold blocking the unwanted rays) for the 2:06 part where instead of a projector, X-rays!(with a x-ray machine of sorts) Just an idea because the wavelength of x-rays is much smaller allowing for much smaller transistors(hopefully). And even possibly making it front and back sided on a single chip(theoretically for more complicated tech)? I am looking forward to your next homemade chip videos even if its next year... or the next! I am now subscribed!

@himura128

Жыл бұрын

@@blacdiamond2334 we are getting into dangerous territory here. theoretically, yes, but he's not limited by his wavelength yet. Remember, he's not in a cleanroom. There's only so much you can do in a garage. Also, working with xray is very very dangerous and not worth it at all. Also, there's a reason the industry skipped xray and moved into EUV (cost, risk, DUV is good enough, etc...)

@jaym5938

Жыл бұрын

@@himura128 All that gear - he's in a garage?

@doctorpanigrahi9975

Жыл бұрын

It's photolithography when you do it in a lab and ghetto-lithography when you do it in the house.

Dude. You just brought the computer industry back into the garage... ;) Seriously very cool. With the latest 2/3nm processes being so out of reach of the average amateur geek, it is brilliant to be able to go back to basics again. And I love that you are showing everything, it is so much more interesting to actually see the process being done physically, seeing the etching process, washing, layering, etc.

@clementpoon120

4 ай бұрын

can't wait for homemade 74hc610s

@canaconn2388

2 ай бұрын

Not even actually at 2 nanometers

"Are you kids smoking reefer in the garage?" "No Mom, we are baking a phosphorous dopant at very high temperatures!"

@elihernandez330

2 жыл бұрын

What mom says reefer? Lmao

@chopebeef

2 жыл бұрын

@@elihernandez330 mine and his

@andrewcastellane7802

2 жыл бұрын

That's the same thing!

@joe7272

2 жыл бұрын

"and reefer too!"

@helmut666kohl

2 жыл бұрын

@@elihernandez330 Who bakes a phosphorous dopant in his garage? ;-)

As someone working in a large semiconductor fab it is surreal to see the work that we do carried out (albeit on a much smaller scale and much larger scale, if you catch my meaning) by one person in his garage. This is impressive as hell.

@scottdotjazzman

2 жыл бұрын

I used to work IT for a company that sold high vacuum equipment - it's definitely impressive, especially given how expensive high vacuum is.

@ChristopherJones16

Жыл бұрын

You mean you arent? Gee I always thought people working in those big semiconductor fabrication jobs would have mini manufacturing plants in their home like Breaking Bad but instead of Meth ya'll dealing silicon wafers.

@Yeeren

Жыл бұрын

@@ChristopherJones16 The last thing I wanna see at home after a 12 hour shift in the CR is more silicon wafers...

@ChristopherJones16

Жыл бұрын

@@Yeeren I guess it’s different in the silicon world. In the machinists world they all got lathes and 5 axis milling machines in their garages. Figured the more nerdier the industry the more diehard they are. Perhaps they overwork everyone in the silicon industry? Well we know it’s no secret the entire tech industry is overworked when they hang nets outside Apple buildings, and have yoga studios and massage parlors at work next to the Smoothie Bar.

@guri256

Жыл бұрын

@@ChristopherJones16 I suspect it’s partly a matter of scale. This video was amazing, but the tools used in this video are so different from what someone would use on a job, that the process is actually pretty different. It also means that what you can get out of it is really different. Unlike with machining, in the integrated circuit world you are much better off just buying whatever you want, because general purpose micro controllers, PLDs, and FPGAs are so cheap and flexible. What I saw in this video is absolutely awesome, but it’s awesome because it’s being done as a single man operation. Not because it beats a cheap FPGA in most uses.

Incredible! I've been in electronics for 40 years and never thought home built chips were possible.

@Jell0zz

11 ай бұрын

That's exactly what the chip manufacturers want you (and competitors) to think. Obviously they are light-years ahead of the general public unfortunately.

@KaiCanvas

3 ай бұрын

​@@Jell0zz agree

@karatefrosch17

3 ай бұрын

@@KaiCanvasSame, open source hardware is clearly feasible just not at a meaningful scale or jigh performance. I can see this being a possibility for as close to guaranteed secure communication as you can.

@KaiCanvas

3 ай бұрын

@@karatefrosch17 I do think that open source hardware is worth for life long project, at least I have something to be proud of when I was old.

You really know your stuff. I work on silicon diode radiation detectors which are quite easily ruined by any contamination or slightly wrong process conditions. Getting these mosfets to work in a garage is really impressive, especially with only one guy doing it! Btw, we also have the 4145A semiconductor analyzer in everyday use, old but gold :D

Interesting... Being semiconductor professional, I think that this could be a good example for college labs, where students can craft their own transistors and do manual layout. With some extra addition of steppers to have good alignment. After that, one can transition to shuttle wafers for higher integration. This gives so valuable hands-on experience! Great job!

@Wingnut353

2 жыл бұрын

Yes in our class all we got to do was a single layer "antenna"... and it was almost entirely hands off... I think someone setting a leaking canister of HF on thier foot a few years back spooked them out of letting anyone do anything serious in the lab as undergrads... which is sad.

@TheCuteZombie

2 жыл бұрын

That would mean actually teaching something, too dangerous. Let's just read some useless materials instead and teach some nonsense math that we will never go in depth anyways because computers already do that for us or something. And also let's charge a ridiculous amount of money to basically teach people to push a button.

@ethanspaziani1070

2 жыл бұрын

You know that schools today don't teach you anything useful right....

@ethanspaziani1070

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheCuteZombie you get it

@TheCuteZombie

2 жыл бұрын

@@ethanspaziani1070 it started like a medium for sharing knowledge, where people had to work hard to learn and get knowledge. Now it's just a Ford's style production line where the only purpose is to get a piece of paper for validation, no point in actually sharing knowledge. An empty shell of a glorious past. But who I am to question the social machine.

Almost 20 years of chip design and this is one the coolest things I've seen so far.

This is fantastic because so much of technological advancement is about building machines that then build smaller machines recursively - so being able to build a chip from scratch is a real talent and excellent for humanity too. You never know, you may discover something that was missed in the early development of chips that proves invaluable to modern chips. Great work!

@vak2586

9 ай бұрын

Technically not from scratch, but I guess we crossed that bridge a LONG time ago(see that one guy who tried to make a TOASTER from scratch).

And just like that, he was never seen again.

This is without a doubt one of the most impressive uses of the term "homemade" that I have ever seen! Can't wait to see how your process improves over time!

@burntoutelectronics

2 жыл бұрын

Hopefully he can design a ALU or even basic CPU. That would be an incredible achievement

@N1RKW

2 жыл бұрын

@@burntoutelectronics - True indeed! Heck, he's already surpassed by far the density of the ICs used in the Apollo space program! (if memory serves)

@marcelobrigato

2 жыл бұрын

I was going to say something like, "homemade... well, I am not sure I can do this at MY home"... :D Awesome work!!

@markgreco1962

2 жыл бұрын

My home shop is not that well equipped. Thought I might see a garden rake or a bicycle hanging from the ceiling. 😂🤣 amazing contentNEW SUBSCRIBER.

@jameswilson7661

2 жыл бұрын

I could not agree more. Amazing. Can you say "passion"?

This is the most INCREDIBLE DIY project I've ever seen! Also the lab is crazy!

@fidelcatsro6948

2 жыл бұрын

he could be enrichening Uranium in the lab ...😜

@raze7x

2 жыл бұрын

@@fidelcatsro6948 sure! haha!

@LoneWolf-wp9dn

2 жыл бұрын

check out david hahn

@fidelcatsro6948

2 жыл бұрын

@@LoneWolf-wp9dn yes the boy who built a nuclear device in his home backyard or garage!

@recklessroges

2 жыл бұрын

It is impressive and if you would like to see more at, (and sometimes above) this level, you can watch Ben from "Applied Science".

linux users when they understand that their cpu is prebuilt

Dude, that's an insane level of focus and commitment. Super, SUPER, impressive.

I worked in a small semiconductor fab in the summers of 1972/73, your setup brought back some good memories of what it was like back then. We grew our own silicon from a melt. All seems a very long time ago now.

@zsewqthewolf1194

Жыл бұрын

i like to ask how hard it be to make cheap from 1990? because a lot of retro system from late 70s and 80s needing replacement chips and all that

@guruxara7994

Жыл бұрын

Just a question, he's doping a P-type wafer with an N-type solution, Does the mixture of these two impurities doesn't ruin the efficiency of these gates?

@omarhadeed8248

Жыл бұрын

@@guruxara7994 "Polysilicon is often deposited as undoped material and is then doped by diffusion" ~ Richard C. Jaeger. So, assuming the poly layer was initially undoped, the introduction of n-type impurities reduced the resistivity and therefore improved the gate's switching time.

@Bolognabeef

10 ай бұрын

Back when you could work in fabs as a summer job

@ryans3074

7 ай бұрын

I highly doubt that there are any entry level jobs in that industry anymore. Only job that is walk in ready at a fab is the lunch room cleaner

2025, Sam: Oh, I finally made it to 5nm. Intel: here's our new 10nm+++++++ process.

@bilbo_gamers6417

2 жыл бұрын

By 2030 Sam has developed a practical single nanometre transistor and has perfected general purpose Quantum Computation

@GeomancerHT

2 жыл бұрын

He will be working for Intel or AMD before 2025, mark those words.

@wormwoodbecomedelphinus4131

2 жыл бұрын

@@GeomancerHT Intel and AMD are too busy sitting in their high castles.

@maidpretty

2 жыл бұрын

@@GeomancerHT More like TSMC or Samsung.

@suou7938

2 жыл бұрын

@@GeomancerHT Probably faster to build his own company and replace them…

Bro this is fascinating, I think about you and your work once about every two weeks, I haven't seen any of your videos for over a year, yet you still come to my mind. I love what you do, it is very very much appreciated. Thank you!

Wicked! It's such an unknow process that it seems like magic when they show off new chips. I completely had no clue how they were made and barely understood how they worked. So this is great fun learning

Someone : " Can you build a computer for me?" Sam :" Sure I can" Someone :" wait why don't we go into the computer store?" Sam : "You said you want me to build a computer"

@benholroyd5221

2 жыл бұрын

To build a computer, first you must create an -Apple Pie- Universe

@mickolesmana5899

2 жыл бұрын

@@benholroyd5221 Yeah my comment is based on this statement

@jasonrubik

2 жыл бұрын

go mining for the raw ore, then come talk to me ! j/k This is awesome !

@ThienPowChong

2 жыл бұрын

@@jasonrubik someone is doing it kzread.infovideos

@jasonrubik

2 жыл бұрын

@@ThienPowChong I have been subscribed to him for years. I hope he is able to build an integrated circuit soon !

Those DIY chips just show again, how far the semiconductor industry has advanced in the last 60years or so.....

@AnalogDude_

2 жыл бұрын

a girl also did this ... Jeri ellsworth. Making Microchips at Home - Cooking with Jeri Part1 - KZread

@CommodoreGreg

2 жыл бұрын

@@AnalogDude_ That totally sounds like Jeri. She'll tackle anything. Fun to hang with too.

@AnalogDude_

2 жыл бұрын

@@CommodoreGreg yeah, she is amazing, would love to meet her and discus ...

@jan_harald

2 жыл бұрын

@@AnalogDude_ now, what if the two collaborated.... ;P

@AnalogDude_

2 жыл бұрын

@@damiengates7581 hmm, the chemicals involved with it.

This makes me so happy because it blows up this fear I have that if we have some kind of natural or man-made disaster (a big war) our society won't rebuild. With knowledge and skill like this, even stuff like this is possible in your own garage at home. Of course you have some pretty sweet gear. Awesome video.

@ChristopherJones16

Жыл бұрын

Even if we went back to the middle ages from a disaster.. I speculate we wouldnt be in the "middle ages" for long.. It would probably take civilization a year to go from middle age to the 1800s in terms of technology and production(pre-industrial revolution). Look at what the Professor accomplished on Gilligan's Island : D . This would make for a great experiment/reality tv show. Take a 100 engineers, doctors, chemists, farmers, and miners, drop them on an island with nothing and see what they can accomplish in one year. I imagine it would be most impressive.. Look at what one man accomplishes in his youtube channel "Primitive Technology" (his channel is pure Gold). So have no fear. Society will bounce back quickly.

@raskolnikovii1191

Жыл бұрын

Hahahhahaah. Same

@SqueakyNeb

Жыл бұрын

To be fair, his garage is well equipped with chemicals and electronic equipment from other sources.

@documentthedrama8279

2 ай бұрын

yes! this! the fear that the common man couldn't continue. the truth is, we would and seeing this makes me happy. even if WW3 happens, and modernity ends, we will probably leave enough information behind to grow again

Very impressive. It's interesting to see how simple and complex these are at the same time.

How do you deal with alignment of the layers at each exposure step?

@zoidbergVII

2 жыл бұрын

He shows the exposure setup can be used to observe the system too, I wonder if he can use a different light wavelength for alignment?

@SamZeloof

2 жыл бұрын

Yup the lithography machine is a projector bolted to a microscope, so I can look thru the eyepiece to align chip layers. Use red light to align, UV to expose. but the image shifts and distorts when changing between wavelengths due to chromatic aberration so you need to do some calibration

@dtiydr

2 жыл бұрын

@@zoidbergVII He is not down to say any 7nm yet so an ordinary microscope and micro X-Y controls are more than enough.

@ikocheratcr

2 жыл бұрын

I guess his process is similar to Huygens Optics, see Maskless Wafer Stepper videos. There is an explanation of those steps there.

@ayylmao.mp3

2 жыл бұрын

@@SamZeloof this microscope alignment process deserves it's own video like all the other steps! Fascinating stuff!

Sam, your ingenuity is amazing! I was in making chips in the late 70s and 80s, I recognize some of your equipment. Keep up your great work!

@akashpaul909

2 жыл бұрын

Do you still make now?

@king_james_official

2 жыл бұрын

@@akashpaul909 read the damn comment again

Жыл бұрын

@PRETTY GIRL TSMC hired him

Man this is incredible, I was always trying to grasp the whole lithography thing and how semiconductors are manufactured!! Besides all the animation video’s available online, This video is the only one that actually taught me how that works!!

Man this is incredible, keep up the good work, I'm just a welder but I'm deeply fascinated in this stuff and honestly this is the most impressive thing I've seen one single person make

The World: Silicon Shortage This Man: Hold my Beer

@BenState

2 жыл бұрын

you win the internet today lol

@ericbenjaminjr

2 жыл бұрын

Exactly my thoughts. There are exactly 3 companies producing chips for the entire planet. None of those are in the USA. And China is being a cunt. The world needs independence from them.

@janospeh9503

2 жыл бұрын

@@ericbenjaminjr only 3?

@jerry3790

2 жыл бұрын

@@janospeh9503 Intel, TSMC and Texas Instruments I believe. TSMC is by far the largest by production and I think Texas Instruments only makes simple chips for calculators and other low power devices. There’s a few other smaller players, and a few that only operate in mainland China

@Bajamba

2 жыл бұрын

@@jerry3790 Don't forget ones like Samsung, GlobalFoundries, Micron, and SK Hynix. Pretty much all the biggest companies do have fabs in the US as well. With the exception of China, most of these companies operate multinationally.

Dude's out here starting up the next Intel in his garage 💯

@Toleich

2 жыл бұрын

@MichaelKingsfordGray Who hurt you?!

@retromobs6018

2 жыл бұрын

@MichaelKingsfordGray Dude are you ok?

@BenState

2 жыл бұрын

@MichaelKingsfordGray take your pills bro, or stop drinking.

@USBEN.

2 жыл бұрын

@MichaelKingsfordGray Lost comments

@Versuffe

2 жыл бұрын

Amd*

This is absolutely incredible. We would all love to see lots more of this

A man of so many talents. I work in a plating field and am a guitar amp tinkerer. This is a little bit everything done right.

I absolutely love how youre helping reduce the complexity for the masses to have a general enough understanding of the equipment and processes to make the building blocks of computers. You have successfully torn down hours of frustrating and difficult research on my end to achieve my goals. You have massive respect from me

@svampebob007

2 жыл бұрын

lithography is but one part of designing useful chips. One of the really hard par is also how to connect those transistors into useful circuits. By no means is his work trivial, it's so freaking impressive to see how he does it, but having to hook all those transistors into patterns that can execute jobs is also another field in it self and can take years to release a newer and better version of your old processor. I think there's even more great videos coming from this guy I just found like 10 minutes ago :D

@trentcoble3793

2 жыл бұрын

@@svampebob007 well arent you redundant and lacking In any education useful to me

@svampebob007

2 жыл бұрын

@@trentcoble3793 Yeah I'm so sorry that computer electronics is not available in Tennessee. I should have picked advanced buck fucking? that way you could have picked a college in Alabama or South Carolina since you seem drawn to educated people. Maybe that way you'd be closer to a real university over seas where I got my education. Idk that might be better then just relaying on other people's education, no? because idk about the whole "relay on people's KZread comments" to learn think, don't you think? ah right no you don't think for yourself! But hey (don't confuse it those words with buck or Hay) I don't want to be too redundant as to write too many words for big 'old Trent :)

@trentcoble3793

2 жыл бұрын

@@svampebob007 I honestly really don't think i ever want to figure out what is wrong with your brain

@kingkarlito

2 жыл бұрын

@@trentcoble3793 you commented as if lithography was a mystical, alien technology that you had just been granted special access to, but then start crying in response to a comment pointing you to the further manufacturing marvels of processor design. "You have successfully torn down hours of frustrating and difficult research on my end to achieve my goals. You have massive respect from me" transformed into... "I honestly really don't think i ever want to figure out what is wrong with your brain" this change in your replies in response to a simple comment makes it clear which one of you could be suffering from brain damage. what is wrong with you Trent?

I'm a computer sciecne student and people think I'm nerdy because I assemble and fly FPV drones and stuff, but you make me feel like an imbecile lol. You're AMAZING! Please do more videos like this, it's fascinating.

@chaorrottai

11 ай бұрын

I know right, I custom designed a bunch of electrostatic genies this year that make around 100 KV and this video made me feel like a caveman....

@weakmindedidiot

7 ай бұрын

You're a student still my guy. You start somewhere. You end up wherever the journey takes you. Flying FPV drones is a good pursuit. It will teach you all the mechanics of flight plus you learn to troubleshoot and fix stuff every time you crash. Maybe even CAD and 3D Printing. Just follow whatever interests you.

@tami6867

6 ай бұрын

watching people smarter or more capable than yourself keeps yourself groundet avoiding Dunning Kruger effect. So thats nice. More people should do that.

@et_aliae

5 ай бұрын

@@tami6867 fun fact: the dunning-kruger study (and ones replicating) uses a flawed methodology that introduces auto-correlation into it's conclusion; without correlating non-independently measured data, the effect disappears. alas, avoiding hubris has not such a simple remedy.

This is very very impressive! Hats off to your skill set and effort in achieving this. It would be a game changer to be able to create your own chips in the backroom of your house. We have FPGAs that can do digital, but personally, I think this would be a great idea for a start-up company to do analog chip design for all the rest of our needs. There are PCB houses galore. A chip service could possibly do well if the details were worked out. Fantastic work!

Incredible. I worked at Motorola in a fan doing these same processes. You are a very dedicated individual to undertake this lab work. Indeed I will watch your videos.

I love the Moore‘s law chart, that was a good laugh!

Just wow man. I can’t remember the last time I was this impressed by a KZread video.

@BenState

2 жыл бұрын

ditto

@techalyzer

2 жыл бұрын

Then you are subscribed to the wrong channels ;)

This is incredible. Absolutely awesome, keep it up! We need more home brew projects like this! What would be really cool to me would be a fundamental redesign of chip logic since we have the ability to look back in time and see exactly where flaws were introduced to the process.

*Wonderful* stuff! I'm a really big fan of the "less is more" philosophy - the "small, simple and elegant" approach to things. I've seen some of that in embedded OSs (and programming languages like Forth, Smalltalk and Rebol) and now you're doing it with silicon chips! Great to see! You are fulfilling a *vital and essential* role in keeping the knowledge of "how to make a silicon-chip processor" alive. I just LOVE that! Ok, I've heard of FPGAs but (AFAIK) those still require a "fab plant" to make them. *You're* doing the manufacturing at *home!*

Absolutely incredible! I've been involved with IC's since the 4004 and even recognise some of the HP gear too, but you do seem to have used $500,000 of equipment to make a $1 chip ! I would never have thought it possible to do this type of fab work AT HOME. Just brilliant. _(Edited 2 months later to say :- The $500k I loosely mentioned refers to the prices when some of the historical gear featured was 'new'. I deal in this stuff today, and the same equipment sells for 1-5% of its original cost and generally it all works like new, and some have bang up to date calibration certs. But its bargain equipment now. Sometimes the gold inside is worth more than the used price of the whole machine !)_

@anotherdave5107

2 жыл бұрын

That may have been the equipment cost new but an used HP4145A goes for about $3500 on eBay now a days.

@techalyzer

2 жыл бұрын

@@anotherdave5107 Still in the realm of impossibility for many of us.

@RmRoyalflush

2 жыл бұрын

hes developing not producing

@anotherdave5107

2 жыл бұрын

@@techalyzer - some ppl buy a $80K car when a used $5K would get the job done. How we spend our money reflects both needs and wants. ( and he may be getting equipment donations from supporters, labs etc. )

@lasaventurasdevitoelgatoma3405

2 жыл бұрын

not to argue here but first "so does every chip manufacturer everytime they made a chip." n second "kudos to the guy who makes single handedly a f*** microchip on his garage" this videos are amazing men wow

I didn't even knew such a layer of diy could be achieved... Astonishing!

This is awesome! I wanted to go in to grad school to do materials research for semiconductors but chose a different career path. I may wind up trying this because it's still an interest, thank you for your videos on this!

Worked on my PhD in Electronics back in the 90s. This was more highly integrated than anything I managed back then. This is some dope (see what I did there) shit to manage all alone! Much kudos!

Zaloof's Law > Moore's Law

@mysticusa

2 жыл бұрын

Moore's law doubles, Zaloof's quadruple :) before year 2030 Zoolaf's Z10500 vs Intel i25500 and Intel loose by 20% would be hilarious

@TheStuartstardust

2 жыл бұрын

Was laughing at this one in the video 🤣 Don't know why - but it is funny to beat the industry by doing this at home. TechTechPotato channel should feature this - great work regardless 👍💪

I just wanted to say that your work is awesome. I'm a software engineer and I've always wanted to look at fab'ing, but always felt like it was passed me. Stunning to see what you've accomplished in your garage. Keep it up!

@DiegoSynth

2 жыл бұрын

Don't feel that! You can really fabricate your own PCB at home (not like this that you need a lab), and while the scale is larger, it's a very similar process. Have a look at it!

@thetomster7625

2 жыл бұрын

the question is, what do you wanna fab? as an SW-Eng I guess you want to start going one step down to HW -> so PCB edging and soldering your own board is much much easier and doesn't require his fairly expensive equipment (at least by what I can tell in the video). If you want to make it even easier on yourself: start by designing your own boards and circuitries and simply order the PCB online (very cheap these days) cause to be honest: there is not much to gain from making your own transistors ;)

@diego032912

Жыл бұрын

@@thetomster7625 being able to make your own computer from scratch isn't useful... you sure?

@thetomster7625

Жыл бұрын

@@diego032912 that comes down to how you define the word "useful"... having some self-made blinky-lights circuitry (which is about the integration level he can get to) is not much use, since you can buy a chip exponentially more powerful for much less of the money it costs him to run his lab for say, an hour. Point being: its very impressive, what he does, but useful? come on... If you want to make your own computer (and one, that deserve the name) start by writing your own programs, compilers, design your own boards, edge your own boards and solder them in your garage.... all of that is much less costly and way more useful than making your own semi-conductors.

This video just popped up on my feed at random and wow. It blows my mind how someone can make an IC at home like this. You defiantly know your stuff.

Darn! My definition of ‘Garage lab’ just got violently upgraded… That is an impressive accomplishment! Well done!!!

This is super impressive! I've worked in the semiconductor industry for quite some time now and would not have thought that this is possible. Thank you for proving me wrong!

@thealienrobotanthropologist

Жыл бұрын

This really makes me wonder what drives the cost of commercial IC manufacturing. I know the machines are expensive, but if he can scrap together some older stuff, it seems like there must be more to it for modern processes.

@KonradTheWizzard

Жыл бұрын

@@thealienrobotanthropologist Excellent question. As usual it is complicated. Overall cost per chip has actually fallen steadily, but the cost per factory has risen sharply. Bigger wafers need bigger machines and better alignment, which drives up the cost of the machines, but bigger wafers can contain more chips and thus increase production throughput (process time is dependent on number of wafers, not on number of chips). The trend towards smaller structures allows to put more chips on the same area, but also increases production cost, since the machines have to have better alignment and finer control over the process. Occassionally you need completely new processes because you hit a physical limit. So, overall the amount of chips per wafer increases quadratically with finer structure, but the machine cost also increases roughly quadratically with finer structures. Negatives and positives of both trends largely cancel out. In the end it comes out as cheaper chips because of automation and economy of scale. Automation allows higher production speed, more uniform quality and better control. Economy of scale is the reason that only a few super big companies are left at the leading edge of semi-conductor manufacturing. If you build a new factory you have to buy machines within the last few generations, because they just don't build the cheaper old ones anymore. (Why would they, if they can sell an expensive one?) And now for the big super secret sauce that no one talks about: there are still hundreds of older factories whose machines have paid for themselves twice over and which just crank out cheap, boring, routine chips for which nobody asks what feature size they have. Those factories also increase their automation and efficiency, but nobody talks about them... because micro-meters are boring - we want nanos!

@thealienrobotanthropologist

Жыл бұрын

@@KonradTheWizzard But I can't think of any piece of equipment that needs to be expensive enough to explain the cost of a new fab. Nothing in the video looks particularly expensive to build. HEPA filters, bunny suits, ESD protection, UV free lighting, etc. aren't that big of a deal financially. Optics of the caliber needed for the state of the art are expensive, but not enough to explain the fab cost. What makes a 5nm fab more expensive to build than a 50nm, 500nm, or 5000nm fab? If they kept the production volume the same, I'd expect the capital costs to be similar.

@KonradTheWizzard

Жыл бұрын

@@thealienrobotanthropologist Nothing in the video is particular expensive (on an industrial scale), because it works on relatively manageable scales. Let's work with your example scales and use etching as an example: 50µm: no problem, dunk it into some acid that is suitable for the job and wait till enough material is gone. Maybe stir a bit. 5000nm (5µm): not a big problem, you have to stir evenly, control the temperature a bit and be cognizant of the timing. 500nm: liquid etching is becoming really difficult, you have to precisely control the flow (speed and direction) of the acid, temperature has to be precise to at least 1K, timing must be precise to a fraction of a second. Using a plasma instead starts to look like a really good idea now. Not all liquids will even work at that feature size (see below). 50nm: forget liquids. Liquids will not enter such small features and if they are inside they will not leave. So you have to use plasma etching. Doing plasma etching on this level is much more expensive than a simple acid bath, it also requires timing down to milliseconds, high vacuum, flow control and a very controllable microwave. 5nm: the feature size is rapidly approaching a statistical basketball game of whether the ions (proverbial ball) will even find the feature wells they are supposed to go into (basket on a court in a different city). Steering the flow becomes more like black magic than science. That's just one example. Every process has hundreds of problems that need to be solved at every smaller feature size. Occassionally I spend a few hours with people who researched for decades on how to overcome one particularly tricky problem that I didn't even know existed at a specific feature size. It is fascinating for me to listen to... and was expensive for the companies spending the research dollars... I hope that gives you an idea.

Very impressive Sam! You have definitely made a lot of progress looking at the characteristics, and also in particle control.

That's pretty amazing man. I'm not into semiconductor engineering, my stuff is mostly embedded design, but I am thoroughly impressed. It takes a certain level of frustration against manufacturers to want to pull something like this off.

This is one of the most impressive things I've seen in a long time. Excellent work!

Long time EE here. I'm so impressed you got even ONE transistor to work. Geesh, this is impressive, and most all, you appear to be having great fun. Obviously, "someone" is giving you some encouragement behind the scenes and probably helping you acquire some of the equipment. Immense kudos for he/she/them that believe in you. That equipment may be old and a "bargain", but it's still a major investment AND I suggest it takes some major skills just to keep the equipment alive and well. Not sure what you intend to do next, but here are some ideas: - Make an array of transistors that are easy to change interconnects. Invent a way to strip the metal without disturbing the active devices to "re-program" the arrays. - You have to make an oscillator. - Make some logic gates, or maybe you're way past this... - Sure, go for a home made 4004. - Make an op amp - Make a solar cell array, because you can. - Make some higher power FETs. Or just try to make lower Rds devices. Best wishes

@jjaxs1571

Жыл бұрын

How much would all this equipment cost?

@lindadanforth-md8hc

Жыл бұрын

OP is drunk again

@lindadanforth-md8hc

Жыл бұрын

OP is commenting as if its a mentor, but really just a hack, living in his fantasy world

@redwillrise

Жыл бұрын

@@jjaxs1571 already the HP semiconductor parameter analyzer and the HP C Meter/C-V Plotter will run you about a grand each if you can find them used somewhere - the modern equivalent to the aformentioned parameter analyzer will cost you 10k+. And those are just two tools out of many displayed in this video here. If I had to come up with a number I'd estimate the total of the gear on display is in the tens of thousands $ range. This is some seriously impressive kit for a hobbyist, I'm glad it found its rightful owner.

@jjaxs1571

Жыл бұрын

@@redwillrise So will alternative medium sized businesses be able to build low performing chips that are not AMD or Intel anytme in the near future? Open source chip?

That’s pretty much a pro lab in my opinion , and what you’re doing is awesome and is opening doors for this to become common knowledge , thank you for sharing. I would really appreciate listing all the equipments to replicate such a great lab.

Hey man love your videos I work in a semiconductor fab and it crazy seeing what you've been able to do at home. Cant wait for your next video!

that is quite the project!!!! love it. I worked for 45 years designing chips in Silicon Valley.

Wow, I put a shelf up the other day and was proud of myself... You my man are a different level!

@a_parto

2 жыл бұрын

hahaha

@smitcher

2 жыл бұрын

@@user-xf7kk4tq8v 🤣

It's really great that you are providing this information to us. Chip manufacturing is such an enigma and I think an open source chip is something that people deserve to have. Thank you for your service!

@deang5622

10 ай бұрын

No. People do not need open source mask programmable chips. That's a fallacy. What people need are field programmable gate arrays (FPGA). And these exist and you can use them without having to manufacture them yourself. A considerably more efficient way to implement a digital circuit. Home made mask programmable chips have only two uses, and that is for the purposes of fun and education only.

@NuggetInAJar

7 ай бұрын

@@deang5622 He did not say it would be useful in commercial applications, just that people deserve to have it. And I agree.

@deang5622

7 ай бұрын

@@NuggetInAJar Then you obviously don't know anything about mask programmable integrated circuits and the equipment and highly dangerous chemicals involved. I do know. Because I have made them in a laboratory setting. So you are agreeing to something without understanding what's involved. Let me tell you now. There is no way on earth any government is going to allow the use of Hydrofluoric acid in a residential home setting. Never in a million years. So stop spewing out nonsense. And go learn more about it, much more about it before making such completely idiotic posts.

@vsc3455

5 ай бұрын

I would argue the knowledge is equally as important. @@deang5622

@exploringbuddy

4 ай бұрын

😪@@deang5622

Really impressive stuff, also answered some questions I had about how chips are made.

It must have been around 1988 that I made a silicon diode at the Eindhoven University of Technology. It was surprisingly easy, but maybe the teacher skipped a few processing steps. But your transistor is really a huge leap further. Congrats!

Unreal! I was taught these concepts in school 15 years ago but could never practically visualize what it might mean to make such features (doping, wells, etc.). Also it would be amazing to de-centralize some of the semiconductor industries and do some grassroots innovation on things like custom sensors and FETs. Keep up the great work!

@absalomdraconis

2 жыл бұрын

Honestly, it's got more value for instructional and maybe development purposes than for commercial purposes. "Boutique" ic manufacturing is too easily replaced by programmable logic for everything except analogue, and the analogue can be handler by D/A and A/D converters, or the (admittedly rare) "programmable analogue" chips, which just about always will price out this sort of thing. Education & development, in contrast, finds more value in turn-around time, direct experience, and total fab cost than in per-chip cost, and thus has great use for this sort of thing.

@TheAkashicTraveller

2 жыл бұрын

@@absalomdraconis Analogue computing may actualy pick up quite a bit in the near future, it turns out to be very effective for machine learning.

@MatthewHoworko

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheAkashicTraveller I saw that recently too. Can't wait to see more!

@johndododoe1411

2 жыл бұрын

An industrialized version of his low spec process could be used to mass produce chip types that are too simple for the extreme factories that make extreme density modern chips. Things like basic logic and analog chips could be made from redesign or licensing from the ones that were introduced in 1965 to 1975. Also power electronics could benefit from the large feature size, such as input circuits for power supplies or DC to AC inverters for solar power etc.

@TheAkashicTraveller

2 жыл бұрын

@@johndododoe1411 Well I've got good news for you U.S. patents only last 20 years unlike copyright so anyone can actualy do whatever they want with those. A neat usecase if this goes ahead would be replacement chips for retro devices like computers and games consoles.

It would be cool if you can "homebrew" a 6502 compatible microprocessor.

@7c3c72602f7054696b

2 жыл бұрын

C64 SID would be cool too.

@alexa.davronov1537

2 жыл бұрын

Lol well, this would require him to create a logic which is very tedious process that only looks simple.

@stuaxo

2 жыл бұрын

Give it a few years and it will go this way, I think we will have enthusiasts gradually recreating all the missing chips, maybe a few years yet.

@Gameboygenius

2 жыл бұрын

@@alexa.davronov1537 not really. Visual6502 has reverse engineered the original masks. He could copy the masksdirectly without even understanding how they work in detail. But bonding so many pins could be difficult.

@alexa.davronov1537

2 жыл бұрын

​@@Gameboygenius Seriously? Well, he would need not only a single mask, but many. Layers that connects individual transistors require separate steps in production.... There are many metallic layers on top of silicon die which require their own resist/etch/PVD cycle. He also would need to debug it ...

Brilliant. The kit is fabulous.

People can you imagine, what could Sam do with enough time and resources. The real world ironman vibes i am sensing here.Great job man.

@ac1455

4 ай бұрын

Sam will be prepared if he gets sent back in time or if the apocalypse happens. He’ll speed run the digital revolution

Wow, that's awesome. I can't describe well enough how much of a paradigm shift this is for me to see that someone can actually build these from scratch in their own home. Huge kudos to you for putting the effort into learning all this stuff. I wish you all the best for future endeavours. This is so cool. Cheers!

@Hisu0

Жыл бұрын

It really is cool, but a good part of equipment used in the process contains modern chips, so it's not _really_ from scratch.

@hg2.

Жыл бұрын

He's opening doors for "millions".

@Cackl_

Жыл бұрын

​@@Hisu0 By that logic, he also didn't mine the silicon himself, or create the tools to mine the silicon himself. He really didn't do anything at all, I guess.

@Hisu0

Жыл бұрын

@@Cackl_ It's not about credit, it's about validity of a claim. If you say (or imply) you made something from scratch, it means you made it without using the same [level of] technology. Otherwise, I can 3d print a hammer and claim I "made it at home" or "built it from scratch" when it's obviously not what I was doing. Similarly, it's not expected that you'd mine silica, because chip-grade silicon is available on the level of technology preceding chipmaking.

i've been dreaming all my life to be able to produce silicon chips , i just adore what you did , please keep up

I worked in dram manufacturing at micron for many years last 6 were in dryetch. Excellent work and description

I never expect integrated circuit could be built at home. you are amazing

Just, whoa. I was thinking "hey, I could do this", up until you brought up the aluminium sputtering.

@arfink

2 жыл бұрын

Al sputter is not too bad if you can find a cheap piece of vac equipment to steal pumps and valves from, like a dead NMR, SEM, leak checker, etc.

This is amazing. It's on my bucket list to spin an ASIC, but doing it in your garage on your own equipment is just... Inspiring. Wow

Thanks for explaining all the steps. Super cool!

Damn, respect for your focus and determination - making your own chips, that is seriously awesome! Keep up the good work!

I had been following your progress for the last 2 years, and I have to say that I never expected you to get this far, you are an inspiration for many entire communities. Great work!

Sincere congratulations, this is the best DIY project I've ever witnessed. I will watch everything if you post more details.

Wow amazing stuff, I work semiconductors myself. You’ve got a whole fab within 1 workshop well done.

Incredible work, please keep it coming

I have been wondering about this for AGES. I am soooo happy i found your page. Thanks to Wired for featuring you. And thank you! For putting this up. People like you really change the world by sharing online your knowledge. I might never make my own chips, but dammit i might!

@absalomdraconis

2 жыл бұрын

In case you ever decide to give it a try, someone several years before also did it (just individual transistors though), and used some sort of ceramics oven for the heating step, with a ceramic wick of some sort (not fiberglass, but something else decently common) to lead high purity water into the oven for oxidization purposes.

@s.v.discussion8665

Жыл бұрын

@@absalomdraconis Who did it?

"Coverage of the whole Waffer" *stares at the one corner*

@IR240474

2 жыл бұрын

I saw that too!

Man, I really hope to see more of this some day. Really cool.

Look, man... I've built an ALU on some breadboards with ICs... But you're out here chemically making the ICs. That is incredible. That is a step beyond. Also, how casually you mentioned working with HF scares me! Glad to see you're still alive, at least as of your community post 9 months ago!

This is so freaking amazing. I find the whole IC fabrication process crazy and it is awesome to see someone doing it at home!

Finally, custom ASICs directly from your garage! Seriously though, I do believe that we could have small affordable machines to manufacture custom semiconductors at home in the next 20 years or so, just like 3d printers.

This is amazing, I had no idea this was possible to do at home. Great work.

Everyone here is amazed watching the process and I am here thinking that putting this lab together is a much more impressive feat that this (relatively) simple process. Knowledge about chip manufacturing and semiconductor devices is very accessible in this day and age. Installing (and potentially fixing) these ebay bought (and donated) equipment is no small feat! the information about this stuff is so obscure and requires experience (not just textbook knowledge). Not to mention the environment. This is not a cleanroom and alot can go wrong! Well done! BTW, I know Sam knows this but for aspiring engineers in their parents garages, DON"T MESS WITH HF! You can lose you hand very very slowly and without knowing. No amount or gloves will protect you (certainly not nylon gloves). I kind of wish he mentioned it in his video because it is a very serious silent killer

Wow, that is seriously impressive work! I definitely want to see more on this - bonding, in circuit use, chip design, etc.

Love your work on Semiconductors, you make it seem so simple, like it is within our reach to do this work ourselves. Power on ahead.

What happened to you ? What are you doing today ?

@whoman0385

Ай бұрын

the opps got him

@HyperFXMotionDesign

Ай бұрын

He runs a startup called atomic semi

@UltimateEntity

Ай бұрын

​@@HyperFXMotionDesign buy the stocks

@xtfj

Ай бұрын

My same thought

@samuelyoung6272

6 күн бұрын

Sunspots cause membranes to become insane. Wanna play a game I’m bored

Many thanks. It is great to see how you can do this sort of thing at home. Cheers.

You're work is fantastic, I was amazed when I first saw the original video about what was done in a home lab. Still amazes me now

Bravo, that is absolutely amazing! I am 58 years old, and from NJ (Python developer) and opposite of standard, you are my inspiration young man. Great job!

Newer thinking that I can see this on KZread made at home processor. Incredible! Fantastic man

You'd make Jeri Ellsworth proud! Mighty impressive work.

Im commenting for the simple reason that I want you to know, you are amazing! Keep learning. Keep upgrading your lab. Keep making. Your videos and subsequent books are a tremendous product and may enrich you for a lifetime. Respect!

One of the most impressive videos I have seen in such a long time.

Best DIY on KZread, INCREDIBLE!

Thank you for the clear and to-the-point explanation.

If I could make a suggestion on what to do next, a 555 timer IC would be great! It's one of these simpler but funamental ICs that are absolutely everywhere, and if it turns out we can make these at home - and they're reliable and functional - it'd be a great step for the maker community!

@RJ-wx3fh

Жыл бұрын

I'm not sure if home chips are all that useful for practical purposes, but a super neat project and a great way to teach and learn how computer parts work from the ground up

@Adaephonable

11 ай бұрын

They would cost way more homemade than just buying.

@joefuentes2977

5 ай бұрын

Just use FPGAs. This is super hardcore and looks like he easily has hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment necessary to take a crack at this. Most people wouldn't even get as far as he did even with this equipment

@RockwellAIM65

4 ай бұрын

Tha'ts true.

@ElukeNL

4 ай бұрын

Or an LM3909.

It absolutely blows my mind that no one has started funding you at a VERY serious level! This is mind blowing stuff!

@laius6047

Жыл бұрын

Not to kill the vibe but who needs one man making ICS that are 60 years behind in current technology. Again I think it's impressive and amazing. but it's not a business model making IC's at home.

@Brett3am

Жыл бұрын

@@laius6047 with a very small amount of funding, someone like this could easily produce current technology custom chips. Custom chips are EXTREMELY expensive to have produced as they are made in small quantities and set up like this could resolve that. You are deeply underestimating the possibilities due to a lack of understanding of the industry.

@smithwilliams5637

Жыл бұрын

@@Brett3am "Small funding" got him a great home lab you can't do anything on the industrial scale with "Small funding" when it comes to chips, he can be a senior at TSMC 💯

@Brett3am

Жыл бұрын

@@smithwilliams5637 which is exactly why I said small quantity chips could be produced like this... the opposite of industrial scale. I know what I am talking about in this realm. Please re-read what I said.

I have watched this video a couple of times, it really helps my understanding

Never seen your channel before, but after watching this video: instant sub and notification bell. This was amazing. Thank you for sharing.😁