rrmmon Hacker News • Recommends
On “Build your own FPGA”
Check out Jeri Ellsworth's homebrow NMOS transistor for some real fun. Just get your bare silicon wafer from E-bay and have at it. link to this video
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Homebrew NMOS Transistor Step by Step - So Easy Even Jeri Can Do It
Jeri Ellsworth
155K subscribers • 2 videos on Hallway
- Recommended by 3 people: 3 on Hacker News.
- A classic. People kept recommending it from 2012 to 2020.
- Presented by Jeri Ellsworth
Intermediate. Assumes working knowledge.
183K views16 years ago3 recommendations
HardwareElectronicsEmbedded systems
Jeri Ellsworth demonstrates the step-by-step process of fabricating a working NMOS transistor at home using basic chemicals and a kiln.
Jeri shows step by step how to make a transistor and at home with a kiln, Whink Rust and Stain remover, Emulsitone spin on dopant, ebay wafers and vinyl stickers.Why it's here
3 people recommend thisWhat people say. Widely shared as an inspiring and legendary demonstration of homebrew semiconductor fabrication.
DanBCon Hacker News • Recommends
On “Valve's flat management structure 'like high school'”
Jeri Ellsworth, for people who don't know, does really interesting hardware stuff. "TSA body imaging at home" ( link ) "Home made EL wire" ( link ) "Recording Audio onto floppy discs" ( link ) "Home made transistor" ( link ) "Homebrew NMOS transistor" ( link to this video )
didericison Hacker News • Recommends
On “Become Shell Literate”
Another book recommendation: "Elements of Computing Systems" by Noam Nisan and Shimon Schocken. It doesn't go all the way down to the physics of semiconductors, but it goes down to logic gates and all the way up to tetris (there's a related course/website called nand to tetris: link ) If you want to go further down, check out Jeri Ellsworth's old videos where she built a transistor at home: link to this video
jwson Hacker News • Mentions
On “Homebrew silicon fab”
Google to the rescue!1 link to this video 1 Though when I googled "Jeri Ellsworth", Google suggestions helpfully suggested I would be interested in her cleavage. Shame on you, internet! 2 I wonder what happened to the fatmanandcircuitgirl site. I was watching them build a pinball machine and then it just stopped updating.
Luyton Hacker News • Mentions
On “Pentium-III autopsy”
Jeri Ellsworth makes NMOS transistors on silicon wafer chips at home, with an oven, rust remover and some other home chemicals: link to this video
DanBCon Hacker News • Mentions
On “How I coded in 1985”
( link to this video ) for transistors, but it feels like cheating. Relays are doable from scratch (mining and refining copper; winding coils, etc etc) but it's going to be pretty hard work and you're going to have a very slow computer at the end of it.
userbinatoron Hacker News • Mentions
On “How to make a CPU – a simple picture-based explanation”
Jeri Ellsworth has gone "deeper" into the process and made a few transistors, although at a much larger scale: link to this video link
mikewaroton Hacker News • Mentions
On “22-Year-Old Builds Chips in His Parents' Garage (2022)”
I've been following home-made semiconductors since Jeri Ellsworth made her own NMOS FETs in 2010.1 When Sam managed to make his own ICs, I was happy for him, and for the hobby. Now he seems to be on the verge of democratizing access to semiconductor production in very low volumes. I've got my own project to try out once I can get my hands on it.2 Who knows, petaflop chips made in the garage could be right around the corner, in less than 2 decades! 1 link to this video 2 link