A hobbyist known as Dr. Semiconductor has successfully built a functional "Class 100" cleanroom, meeting stringent particle count standards, inside his garden shed. The compact facility is equipped with specialized semiconductor fabrication tools, including a plasma etcher, vacuum furnace, and a custom software-driven lithography machine.
The project highlights the critical importance of a dust-free, positively pressurized environment for chipmaking, where even a single particle can ruin microscopic circuits. Dr. Semiconductor plans to use the DIY cleanroom for semiconductor research and development, teasing future demonstrations of the "crazy things" that can be built within it.
The main topics covered are the DIY cleanroom construction, the essential role of cleanrooms in semiconductor fabrication, and the specific tools installed in the hobbyist's shed-based facility.
Ambitious semiconductor enthusiast builds DIY 'class 100 cleanroom' in his garden shed — contains a plasma etcher, vacuum furnace, and even custom software-driven lithography machine
Dr. Semiconductor teases that he will subsequently be showing off the 'crazy things that can be built' in the shed.
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Semiconductor facilities are the super-high-tech cradles of all the tech we cherish, and an essential component of one of these ‘fabs’ is the cleanroom environment. However, a TechTuber called Dr. Semiconductor has successfully created a ‘Class 100 cleanroom’ (ISO 5) in his garden shed. Actually, he’s done quite a bit more than just make an empty cleanroom, with a set of interesting but compact chip tools already installed.
As the good doctor says, all the RAM, CPUs, and GPUs that PC enthusiasts covet rely on clean room facilities. Tech giants like Intel, Samsung, and TSMC will spend billions of dollars constructing their cleanroom facilities. There, they will fabricate chips “inside cleanrooms thousands of times cleaner than a hospital operating room.”
This environment is essential, as a single speck of dust can ruin a whole chip or wafer. A speck of dust is like a boulder on a landscape built from the tiniest, intricate structures. Dust can also contaminate optics and other sensitive tools in the semiconductor process chain. Despite Elon Musk's claims, smoking cigars and eating burgers in a cleanroom would definitely be regarded as a lapse in decorum, if not worse.
Article continues belowDr. Semiconductor began his shed transformation by sealing the environment. We see various steps in reinforcing the internal shed structure. The enthusiast stresses that airflow and positive pressure are the true keys to an effective cleanroom. And the same positive-pressure methodology can help keep a PC's interior clean.
Once the TechTuber was satisfied with his sealing and filtration systems, he borrowed a particle counter. The instrument confirmed that he had achieved a Class 100 cleanroom standard in terms of particle count.
Entering the finished semiconductor shed, you first enter a gowning area, which will be familiar to anyone who has been to a commercial or academic facility. Dr. Semiconductor’s tour shows that as we step into this area, there is a power management area which leverages grid and solar power, shelving with clean room suits, gloves, and chemical supplies.
In the video, after suiting up and crossing into the cleanroom, we get a guided tour from its creator. “It’s compact, but every inch is intentional,” says the good doctor. “It has everything needed in order to make this a fully functioning semiconductor R&D space.”
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Indeed, the tiny cleanroom isn’t just a sterile empty space; it contains some chipmaking tools. Dr. Semiconductor shows us his plasma etcher, vacuum furnace, and custom software-driven lithography machine to the left of the entrance. On the right side, there is a fume hood for chemical processing and spin coating (3D printed spin coater shown). A sample cleaner with a robot arm, some clear workspace, and a thin film deposition system are also present.
The video ends there, but Dr. Semiconductor teases that he is looking forward to sharing details of the whole setup, “from the engineering tool sets, to how it all works, and all the crazy things that can be built — from circuits to sensors, to LEDs, and just so much more.”
Those particularly interested in hobbyist chipmaking might want to follow in Dr. Semi’s footsteps, or just see what is possible in a shed in 2026. In either case, it wouldn’t hurt to subscribe to the channel.
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Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.
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