How-To: Roll your own NMOS transistors

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By Gareth Branwyn
Posted 2010/05/13 @ 3:50 pm
Category Electronics

In this vid, geek goddess of all things awesome, Jeri Ellsworth, details how she made her own NMOS transistors using a a kiln, rust and stain remover, Emulsitone spin on dopant, wafer she scored on eBay, and some vinyl sign-making material.

Homebrew NMOS Transistor Step by Step – So Easy Even Jeri Can Do It

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10 Responses to How-To: Roll your own NMOS transistors

Bob A. on May 13th, 2010 at 4:34 pm said:

“Roll your own” comes from cigarettes (tobacco or pot). Could we find a different metaphor for the title?

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- Gareth Branwyn on May 13th, 2010 at 4:46 pm said:
  
  I appreciate your sensitivity to this, Bob. And I will take it under advisement.
  
  While you’re right about the origins of that phrase, it has become widely adopted, in geekspeak and beyond, to refer to any homemade solution. The other common word, which Jeri used, is “homebrewed,” and again, it has traveled far beyond its original meaning of brewing beer. So, cigarettes or booze. But maybe I’ll choose “homemade” more in the future. That makes me think of things like cookies and pie. Something we can all feel good about!
  
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  Bob A. on May 14th, 2010 at 4:54 am said:
  
  Interestingly, if you Google “roll your own”, the results are dominated by tobacco sellers. If you Google “homebrew”, you get a good number of techie results.
  
  So I would suggest that “homebrew” has wandered farther from its origins than “roll your own” has.
  
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  Brick Moon on May 14th, 2010 at 11:40 am said:
  
  Transistors are gateway components. Stick to diodes, kids. Just say NP.
  
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baz on May 13th, 2010 at 4:54 pm said:

*Please please please*, if anyone attempts this definitely do your research on Hydrofluoric Acid (HF). All labs that use this substance require special training, and in my lab if someone is using HF he/she has to inform the other users of the lab, and if they haven’t had the training they’ve got to leave.

It is one of the nastiest chemicals you’re likely to meet. If you spill some on your skin you won’t feel it immediately as it disrupts your nerves and passes down through your skin. It then reacts with the calcium in your blood which can cause cardiac arrest, and will eat away at your bones, and that’s when you start to get a burning feeling under your skin. By this time it’s already done you serious damage, and amputation may be necessary.

I’m not trying to be macabre or shock anyone, and I’m not taking away from this video, it’s brilliant; step-by-step instructions for real at-home science is awesome! I just want to impress upon you the nastiness that is HF.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrofluoric_acid

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EngineerZero on May 13th, 2010 at 5:59 pm said:

This is brilliant.

By the way, the ‘Homebrew’ Computer Club was where Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak met and started Apple Computer.

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MadRat on May 14th, 2010 at 1:09 am said:

Sheesh, I can barely understand what to DO with a transistor let alone make one.

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John on May 14th, 2010 at 4:35 am said:

I couldn’t believe it so I looked it up. Yes, you can go to the grocery store right now and buy a “rust stain remover” that is a solution of hydrofluoric acid. I couldn’t find the concentration anywhere, but the MSDS sheet is the stuff of nightmares. It must be pretty dilute, otherwise I can’t imagine how it could continue to be so easy to get.

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- klee27x on May 15th, 2010 at 11:37 pm said:
  
  I can’t believe we’ve come to the point where people are outraged that we are actually allowed to buy and sell useful things in a grocery store.
  
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John Baichtal on May 14th, 2010 at 7:48 am said:

Badass. Now all the hackerspaces will run out and get hobbyist kilns!

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