Handmade CPU: A 19-Year-Old’s 1200 Transistor Creation

Handmade CPU: A 19-Year-Old's 1200 Transistor Creation

Who has the best hands-on skills? On Twitter, I saw a 19-year-old blogger who spent a full 3 years to manually create a CPU with 1200 transistors. This American college student named Sam Zeloof ultimately built a CPU with 1200 transistors! It was achieved using a 10-micron polysilicon gate technology and named Z2. The key … Read more

Detailed Explanation of Semiconductor Chip Structure

Detailed Explanation of Semiconductor Chip Structure

Source: The World of Lithographers Before we explain semiconductor chips, we should first understand two points. First, what is a semiconductor? Second, what is a chip? Semiconductor A semiconductor refers to materials whose electrical conductivity is between that of insulators and conductors at room temperature. Materials with poor conductivity, such as coal, artificial crystals, amber, … Read more

Beginner’s Guide: Drawing Circuit Diagrams from PCB

Beginner's Guide: Drawing Circuit Diagrams from PCB

During the process of troubleshooting circuit faults, if there is no circuit diagram for reference and the fault being handled is relatively complex, it is necessary to draw a circuit diagram based on the actual situation of the components and printed circuit on the PCB. 1. Basic Ideas and Methods for Drawing Circuit Diagrams from … Read more

Why SPI Does Not Require Pull-Up Resistors

Why SPI Does Not Require Pull-Up Resistors

Hello everyone, I am Remember Cheng.I previously wrote an article:Why I2C Requires Pull-Up ResistorsI2C requires pull-up resistors due to its open-drain structure, which cannot output a high level, so external pull-up resistors must be added.When using SPI, we find that pull-up resistors are not needed. This is mainly because SPI typically uses a push-pull structure, … Read more

How Are Billions of Transistors Packed Inside Chips?

How Are Billions of Transistors Packed Inside Chips?

Chips are hidden in theelectronic devices that can be seen everywhere in cities, and smartphones, computers, and home appliances all rely on their control. The tiny chipintegrates a vast scale of circuits. When magnifying the chip, you can see that its interior is filled with densely packed circuit layouts, resembling a tightly woven highway, as … Read more

Introduction to Microelectronics: Understanding Semiconductors

What Are Semiconductors When electric current passes through various objects, different objects have different capacities to impede the flow of current. Some objects allow current to flow smoothly, while others do not allow it to pass or do so with certain resistance. This varying ability of objects to conduct electric current is called their conductivity. … Read more

Understanding the Working Principle of NPN Transistors

Understanding the Working Principle of NPN Transistors

Search WeChatSkill Training The NPN transistor consists of three pieces of semiconductor material, two of which are N-type and one is P-type. The P-type semiconductor is in the middle, with the two N-type semiconductors on the sides. The transistor is one of the most important components in electronic circuits, primarily functioning as a current amplifier … Read more

Comprehensive Guide to Testing Various Transistors

Testing Transistors: 1. Testing Small Power Transistors A. Identifying Positive and Negative Electrodes (a) Observe the symbol markings on the casing. Typically, the casing of the diode is marked with the diode symbol, where the end with the triangular arrow is the positive electrode, and the other end is the negative electrode. (b) Observe the … Read more

Differences Between Three Types of PLC Outputs

Differences Between Three Types of PLC Outputs

Differences Between Three Types of PLC Outputs1. Relay Output:The advantage is that different common points can carry different AC and DC loads, and the voltage can also be different, with a load current of up to 2A per point; however, relay output is not suitable for high-frequency loads, which is determined by the relay’s lifespan. … Read more

How Are Over 10 Billion Transistors Installed in Chips?

How Are Over 10 Billion Transistors Installed in Chips?

With the continuous improvement of chip technology, there can be over 10 billion transistors in a chip. How are so many transistors installed? 01 As chips are constantly magnified, they resemble a huge city. This is a top-down view SEM photo, which clearly shows the layered structure inside the CPU. The line widths become narrower … Read more