Uncovering the Silicon: Demystifying How Chips are Built and How They Work

Windell Oskay walks us through the process of understanding what an Integrated Circuit looks like, and how it operates.

This booth at the 2019 Maker Faire Bay Area started by decapping a uL914 chip and looking at it under a microscope. From there, models were designed to explain the structure in a way that's really easy to follow.

Read the article on Hackaday:

Learn more about this exhibit:

[Fopenplop]

incredibly slick presentation considering he gave it in real time

[puran_singh]

Never thought of such an approach to understand ICs. This is amazing! This model needs to be in every school and university :-)

[maccliff]

That acrylic demonstration with the labeled Over is without a doubt the best example of how a transistor works! THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!
This video is so helpful you will never know how helpful this was.
Great video.

[kanelivingstone]

Exceptional video. Very dense with information yet clear. I can't believe it was only 5 minutes long. Most impressive, well done

[danielplante]

Why couldn't I have these explanations/aids in college? Things would have been SO much easier. Great job man! Now do a 2-input NAND with a different metal overlay :)

[benjaminramsey]

I love that people like this exist and are willing to prepare materials and lessons like this, SO GREAT!

[Nontech-yf]

I mean this is one of the best videos out of all the videoa that i have seen on youtube

[scottfranco]

This is very nice. I did a reverse engineer on a chip and we had the advantage that we had photographs of each layer of the chip. Its done by putting the chip in various acid baths and watching through a microscope to see if the top layer has been removed, then photograph it, then repeat. You end up with a series of transparencies of each layer, then you can lift off layers to see underneath. I think the difference now is this is all digitized and you do that on a screen. Its fun, and you learn a lot about ICs that way.

[KentSnelson]

This is one of the easiest understand presentations I’ve seen on the construction of integrated circuits.

[courtneypitcher]

What was up with the arduino? I am very interested.

[wakzy]

Dude, this video is so super-duper cool. I have been a electro-techie for over 50 years and wish I could have seen this video in the early 70s. Never too late, eh? Thanks a million !

[kieranmcmahon]

This is literally the perfect explanation. When I'm at university, this detail of explanation is nowhere to be seen. In my data logging module, we are taught that "programming language is x, y or z, computers understand binary and microprocessors are simply ""and"" or ""or"" gates".

Showing everyone this video is that crucial link between the theory and the practical. Well done, amazing video.

[wi_zeus]

Why are there unused "components" on the silicon layer? Was this design used for multiple chips with different functions, selected by the metal layer on top?

[Rongk]

But why is there an disconnected extra transistor at the top and a several resistors all over the place that also don't go anywhere?
Maybe wiring can vary to compensate for defective silicon? Or are those just the test parts to probe with pogo pins to sanity-check the lithographic alignment?

[paulgill]

EFFIN INCREDIBLE , Why don't they teach like this in schools. I'm almost 60 years old and can't thank him enough for making it so easy and concise. Thank you sir

Changing between images, shapes and diagrams gave a incredible depth in the explanation. Amazing!

[I]

Brilliant. Possibly the best demonstration of an IC ever. Seeing it as a big 3D model really helps to understand it spatially.

[Omar_Tsai]

Massive respect for making all those presentation formats just to explain a simple circuit! 💯

[jacobmojares]

What is the purpose of the transistor that is not connected to any pins?

[s_daivadnya]

I hope one day real school or college education be made just this simple to understand. Teaching is nonetheless an art.