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Comment by phendrenad2 | Hacker News Reader

Does anyone else feel sad that you'll never get to design silicon at this kind of low level? I hope that someday nanotech reaches a point where I can design and print 1 u-meter process chips or something.

(I guess I could always buy hundreds of thousands of transistors and start soldering...)

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At this level? You can use your favourite HDL and a FPGA, and then look into things like TinyTapeout and such. It's not as inaccessible as it seems!

HDL is fun and all, but actually choosing the physical layout and sizing of transistors seems like a much more fun puzzle.

It does take a time investment, but it’s absolutely possible today. https://tinytapeout.com/specs/analog/

If you’re willing to do something that’s not manufacturable, but way easier to understand, then you might try this: https://tinytapeout.com/siliwiz/

While it's not "easy", I was surprised to learn recently that DIY microprocessors are far more accessible than I thought.

Here is BreakingTaps fabricating home made chips, he has a fair bit of equipment though

https://youtu.be/RuVS7MsQk4Y?si=c8PH-FMfcfWLJLiG

There a a few different techniques that can be used. Most of the lithography techniques use Hydrofluoric Acid, but if you are okay with slower build times you can etch the circuits directly with Ion beams or Electron Beams.

But the short story is you need an overhead projector, a microscope, and a few gnarly chemicals. Otherwise fairly straightforward.

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