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