Topic for #homecmos is now Homebrew CMOS and MEMS foundry design | http://code.google.com/p/homecmos/ | Logs: http://en.qi-hardware.com/homecmos-logs/
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<Flea86> o/
<azonenberg> o hai
<azonenberg> Its been quiet in here because i'm busy with classes and dont have too much time to work on stuff
<azonenberg> one of the many things i need to explore is what it'd take to get a metal-ion-free developer for photoresist
<azonenberg> TMAH is a possibility
<azonenberg> i also want to see if ammonia works
<Flea86> So basically, the purpose of this channel is to explore kitchen-table asic manufacturing? :)
<azonenberg> more like living room/basement
<azonenberg> and my lab is a bit more sophisticated than most hobbyists'
<Flea86> I seem to recall Jeri Ellsworth etching her own mosfets into pre-cut silicon wafers..
<azonenberg> Flea86: yes
<Flea86> at home.. :)
<azonenberg> she was the original inspiration
<azonenberg> But that was at millimeter scale
<azonenberg> one of the goals is to shrink her process down to a few microns
<Flea86> At first I thought it was pure bollocks, then I thought she had gone completely mad lol
<azonenberg> Nope
<azonenberg> SEM photo of 20 micron wires, copper on silicon
<azonenberg> from an earlier test
<Flea86> copper on silicon aye? nice!
<Flea86> :3
<azonenberg> wet etched, not damascene
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<Flea86> I've also been fascinated at what *could* be done simply by using oxides of copper, however, unity-gain-and-above devices are not one of them.. :/
<azonenberg> I intend to do doped silicon devices as soon as i have around $2k to spare
<azonenberg> to buy $250 each P and N type dopant solutions and a $1k furnace for diffusion
<azonenberg> Just have to do some more research on other stuff first
<azonenberg> for example, building a nicer spin coater
<Flea86> :)
<azonenberg> Which reminds me i should start the CAD on that soon
<superkuh> What CAD program do you use?
<azonenberg> Still looking for a good free one
<azonenberg> for mechanical cad, that is, not mask design
<azonenberg> the one i've been using so far is an educational copy of autodesk inventor
<Flea86> azonenberg: What's wrong with inventor, are there any 'limits' imposed on that package?
<azonenberg> The educational version?
<azonenberg> The license expires after one year, after which you have to still be a student to renew it
<azonenberg> and the files are permanently marked "created with educational version" on printouts etc
<azonenberg> even if opened in the full version
<azonenberg> also, it doesnt run on linux
<azonenberg> thats one of the few reasons i keep a winblows VM sitting around
<Flea86> "<azonenberg> and the files are permanently marked "created with educational version" on printouts etc" Yeah this'd pretty much ruin it for me too :P
<azonenberg> Its fine for personal projects like i'm doing now
<azonenberg> but its still a potential problem
<azonenberg> the bigger problem is not having a native linux release
<azonenberg> solidworks doesnt either
<azonenberg> unigraphics does but NX is... a bit buggy
<azonenberg> last time i checked
<Flea86> azonenberg: So what kind of mechanical CAD stuff do you need it to do?
<Flea86> 2/3D modelling etc?
<azonenberg> basic 3d parametric cad
<azonenberg> and possibly simple simulation but nothing too advanced
<Flea86> Ah
<azonenberg> in this case, designing a spin coater
<Flea86> azonenberg: Perhaps you could try running inventor under wine??
* Flea86 runs
<azonenberg> Did so
<azonenberg> i filed a half dozen bug reports
<azonenberg> and last time i checked not all are fixed
<Flea86> lol oh..
<Flea86> :<
<azonenberg> bug reports, mind you
<azonenberg> against the setup executable
<azonenberg> it wouldnt even install
<Flea86> x.x
<Flea86> I guess it just shows wine is only good for windows games, if anything..
<azonenberg> its just that games are what they put the most priority on bugfix wise
<Flea86> yeah
<azonenberg> in the longer term i'm thinking of buying a full copy of solidworks and just running it in a vmware system
<azonenberg> its $4k though
<Flea86> azonenberg: Apparently one can also lease solidworks as well :)
<Flea86> (Though I have not yet done so myself)
<azonenberg> I'd want to buy one version and just stick with it
<Sync> I use varicad for 2D and 3D cad natively under linux
<azonenberg> then get a nice linux cnc machining shop set up
<azonenberg> Sync: tried varicad
<Sync> it is not great but it works
<azonenberg> wasnt a fan, its not parametric
<azonenberg> its like autocad extended to 3d
<Flea86> azonenberg: In that case, I suggest you look at vectorcam 3D :D
<Sync> I could care less about it being parametric
<azonenberg> parametric is the absolute minimum requirement for a 3d tool
<azonenberg> my workflow requires being able to continually experiment and tweak dimensions etc
<Sync> I usually use catia now, but it is akward to use in a virtualbox
<azonenberg> i *want* something like inventor but open source and native linux
<azonenberg> but nobody seems to be working on such a tool
<azonenberg> and i dont have the time/skills to make one myself
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<Flea86> azonenberg: Yeah, parametric 3d isn't one of vectorcam's strongpoints, although cnc cam is.. }:A
<azonenberg> CAM is no good without a model to fab though
* Flea86 lags
<Flea86> azonenberg: Well all I've seen so far suggests solidworks works well enough :)
<azonenberg> oh, its a great tool - if you are running on winblows
<Flea86> azonenberg: I wouldn't worry too much about the underlying os.. you're just limiting yourself imho
<azonenberg> the issue is that getting good performance in a VM is a pain
<azonenberg> all of my machines run linux natively
<azonenberg> and i am not gonna buy a new computer just to do cad
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<Flea86> azonenberg: Well what do you have now?
<azonenberg> Right now i have a laptop running debian 6
<azonenberg> with vmware win7 running autodesk inventor student version
<Sync> yeah I'm running a machine just for EDA here, just more conveniant
<azonenberg> Sync: i do all of my electronics work natively
<azonenberg> mplab and ISE have native linux builds
<azonenberg> and kicad is native as well