semiconductor.diy: open-source guides to make real chips in a garden shed
jwt0625 · x · 2026-10-18
Semiconductor engineer Matthew Hartensveld, PhD launched semiconductor.diy, an open-source (CC BY-SA) site showing chip fabrication isn't exclusive to billion-dollar fabs: a Class 100 cleanroom fits in a 10×18 ft shed, sub-micron lithography runs on a modified microscope, and working LEDs, MOSFETs and DRAM can be made at home.
Guides are structured as working process modules covering what each does, costs, and pitfalls:
- Complete infrastructure BOM for a shed-based Class 100 cleanroom, with links for every part
- Making packaged glowing LEDs from a commercial InGaN epiwafer: laser etching, KOH recovery, bilayer lithography, sputtered contacts, laser dicing, indium flip-chip packaging, plus a 9V-battery shortcut version
- Microwave solar panels: p-type silicon with phosphorus coating, a microwave kiln, and soft metal contacts feeding a battery-backed USB output
Hartensveld also runs the Dr.Semiconductor YouTube channel and posted a challenge video on making solar panels with a microwave; more modules are added as the work happens.
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