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The best semiconductors & chip manufacturing videos, according to Hacker News

47 videos about semiconductors & chip manufacturing that Hacker News commenters keep pointing each other to, ranked by how many separate months they were recommended. Part of Hardware & Electronics.

The Extreme Engineering of ASML’s EUV Light Source

Asianometry

697K views · 2021 · 11 HN recs

Commenters repeatedly point to it whenever EUV, ASML or chip manufacturing comes up, as a clear and astonishing explanation of one of the hardest engineering problems in chipmaking.

How a transistor works

Ben Eater

847K views · 2015 · 4 HN recs

HN commenters prefer it over other transistor explanations as an enlightening starting point that leads into building logic gates and a CPU.

Etching small patterns in Glass

Huygens Optics

220K views · 2021 · 4 HN recs

HN recommends it as a highly informative look at micro-etching glass and the smallest Tesla valves.

Homemade Transistor Demonstration

Jeri Ellsworth

151K views · 2010 · 2 HN recs

HN likes Ellsworth as a hardware tinkerer, and cites the video as proof that transistors can be made with low-tech, DIY fabrication.

Why Russia Can’t Replace TSMC

Asianometry

1.1M views · 2022 · 2 HN recs

HN recommends it in threads about sanctions and Russian military electronics, as an explanation of Russia's semiconductor limits.

Where The Real Chip Shortage Is

Asianometry

623K views · 2022 · 2 HN recs

HN commenters point to it as a clear explanation of why fabs aren't being built for older process nodes.

How Semiconductors Ruined East Germany

Asianometry

1M views · 2023 · 2 HN recs

HN commenters share it in chip fab and industrial espionage threads as a well-researched account of East Germany's failed microelectronics effort.

China's 7nm Chips: SMIC N+2

Asianometry

491K views · 2022 · 2 HN recs

Recommended as a high-level, in-depth take on SMIC's 7nm progress and Asian chip manufacturing.

India's Semiconductor Failure

Asianometry

1.6M views · 2021 · 2 HN recs

HN uses it as the source on India's early fab attempts, in threads about India's semiconductor ambitions.

Unveiling High NA EUV | ASML

ASML

574K views · 2024 · 1 HN recs

HN links it to show the sheer complexity of EUV machines, especially when discussing whether competitors can challenge ASML.

How Japan Learned Semiconductors

Asianometry

228K views · 2022 · 1 HN recs

HN points to it as an excellent history of how Japan entered chips, including government-coordinated cooperation like the VLSI project.

Change w/ Jim Keller

Tenstorrent

61K views · 2023 · 1 HN recs

HN commenters cite it as a thoughtful talk from a legendary chip architect, both for the s-curves view of progress and for concrete technical details on semiconductor scaling.

Building AI Silicon

Tenstorrent

16K views · 2021

HN cites it as a source on Tenstorrent's wide-issue RISC-V Ascalon CPU in RISC-V threads.

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