this post was submitted on 18 Oct 2023
27 points (100.0% liked)

Ask Electronics

3316 readers
1 users here now

For questions about component-level electronic circuits, tools and equipment.

Rules

1: Be nice.

2: Be on-topic (eg: Electronic, not electrical).

3: No commercial stuff, buying, selling or valuations.

4: Be safe.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
DavideAndrea@discuss.tchncs.de
linker3000@discuss.tchncs.de
27
At what size of transistor does semiconductor manufacturing become practical for independent manufacture? (lemm.ee)
submitted 1 year ago by Kalcifer@lemm.ee to c/askelectronics@discuss.tchncs.de
9 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Currently, only one company in the world -- ASML -- has the technological capability necessary for the creation of photolithography machines which are sufficient for the production of modern semiconductor devices. What I'm wondering is at what point does semiconductor manufacturing become practical, or even feesible for small organizations, or independents? One must be able to surpass the cost of the machines, and the resources necessary to manufacture them. I presume that a company like ASML is also extremely picky -- willfully, or by regulation, or otherwise -- about who they lend their technology to.

I'm not sure if this is the right community for this sort of post. Please let me know if not, and if there is a more suitable place to put it.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] BigDanishGuy@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

which I found rather neat

I concur, what a great post. Special software for the layout? Please! I've got a photoshop license, it'll have to do.

The rest of us get our calculators at staples, this guy buys the components at the chemical supply store.

[–] ZILtoid1991@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And once small-scale semiconductor manufacturing becomes easier and more feasible, we will have "OpenChipCAD" or something like that.

[–] Eufalconimorph@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 year ago

We've had open-source chip design software since the 1980s. Magic VLSI, for example. There are quite a few OSS tools for various parts of the chip design process.