I think abusing a write-off electron microscope to side step the need for masks is also an interesting idea, however, I believe acquiring wafers of sufficient quality and depositing layers to be etched could be the bigger challenge here.

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numpad0 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

Hold on, if I had an electron microscope, can I just put in a decapped cheap large format photodiode under it, jack the beam current way up, and start etching trenches on it?

	▲	volemo a day ago \| parent [-]
		I don't think so: it's a microscope, not a synchrotron. :D I meant "drawing" on a photoresist layer with a SEM and then wet-etching it. Also all silicon in a photodiode is doped, so the etched parts would be of little use, I believe.

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jacquesm 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

And the clean environment as a whole. That's a massive investment and there are a million ways to mess that up.

	▲	Klaster_1 16 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		There's this guy doing clean room in a shed on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dr.Semiconductor
	▲	bigbadfeline 2 days ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		> however, I believe acquiring wafers of sufficient quality and depositing layers to be etched could be the bigger challenge here Definitely hard for a home fab but how about a community fab? Not necessarily a geographic community.
	▲	gaze 2 days ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		for making research grade devices you barely need a cleanroom

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butvacuum 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

wafers are the easy bit.