How Do Semiconductors Work? Introduction to SiliWiz
tinytapeout.com
tinytapeout.com
It claims to be aimed at "curious people over the age of 14", but goes from "the period at the end of this sentence is a million nanometers", straight to diagrams filled with nothing but technical jargon.
The text has various unexplained terms throughout, that are mentioned as if the reader already knows them: "PDK", "stackup", "layer", "polyres", "polysilicon" and "gate of a MOSFET" for example.
"Mask" is explained, and it's a good explanation. It'd be great if that attention was given to other domain-specific terms someone coming to this new likely doesn't know, or maybe has seen but doesn't know well or in this context.
There's a reason university-level courses are usually taught in a certain order (basic circuits, transistor circuits, then device physics/manufacturing). By doing it the opposite way here, they're trying to teach you how to make something you have no idea how to use. Or really even what it is...
> For anyone who wants to dip their toe in integrated circuits (ASIC), this project provides a way to get a tiny (~200 gate) project onto a physical chip. You can do the whole thing in the browser ... This uses the Skywater 130m process. It's backed by an open source PDK (SKY130B).
slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/160K21rd_YWYHUG7nAS...
Target audience:
Makers
High schools
Hackerspaces
Entry level digital design course at university
Open source silicon enthusiasts
> Thanks to the new open source Process Development Kit from Google and Skywater and the OpenLane ASIC tools from Efabless, we now have the opportunity to get involved in this exciting field without signing NDAs or paying a fortune for tool licenses. GCC revolutionised compiling, Linux revolutionised computing. Android revolutionised phones. Arduino revolutionised microcontrollers. RISCV is revolutionising ISAs. The next step is open source Silicon.