Sam Zeloof

Sam Zeloof
Sam Zeloof pictured in 2017
BornNew Jersey, United States
NationalityAmerican
OccupationInventor Edit this on Wikidata
Known forHomemade microchip fabrication
Websitehttp://sam.zeloof.xyz Edit this on Wikidata

Sam Zeloof (born 1999 or 2000) is an American electrical engineer and entrepreneur.[1] He is most well known for DIY microchip fabrication, having lithographically microfabricated various chips in his garage as early as the age of 17. Zeloof is currently CEO of his company Atomic Semi, Inc. [d] which builds tools for small semiconductor fabs.[2]

Education

Zeloof attended Hunterdon Central Regional High School.[3] He then went to Carnegie Mellon University where he studied electrical engineering between 2018–2022.[4]

Career

Through autodidacticism and help from his father, Zeloof, at the age of 17, constructed a home microchip fabrication facility in his parents' garage.[1] In 2018, he produced the first homebrew lithographically fabricated microchip, the Zeloof Z1,[5] a PMOS dual differential amplifier chip.[6] In 2021, he achieved a transistor count of 100 with the creation of the Zeloof Z2, a transistor array.[7][8][9][10]

His work takes partial inspiration from Jeri Ellsworth's "Cooking with Jeri" which demonstrates a homebrew transistor and logic gate fabrication process.[11] His photolithography process is currently able to create details as small as 300 nanometers.[12]

In 2022, Zeloof along with Jim Keller started Atomic Semi, Inc. [d], a startup to manufacture small batches of affordable microchips quickly.[13]

Zeloof also has a considerable online presence with a Youtube channel[14] focusing on microchip and semiconductor manufacturing.

References

  1. ^ a b Cass, Stephen (December 22, 2017). "The High School Student Who's Building His Own Integrated Circuits". IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  2. ^ www.linkedin.com/in/samzeloof/
  3. ^ 2018 Program Book, Trenton Computer Festival. Accessed April 7, 2022. "Sam Zeloof is a senior in high school at Hunterdon Central in Flemington, NJ."
  4. ^ Maderer, Jason (20 October 2020). "Student Turns Old Polaroid Into New Digital Camera". cmu.edu. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  5. ^ List, Jenny (May 3, 2018). "More Details On That First Home-Made Lithographically Produced IC". Hackaday. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  6. ^ Zeloof, Sam (April 25, 2018). "First IC :)". Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  7. ^ By (2021-08-14). "The Zeloof Z2 Intergrated [sic] Circuit Has 100 Transistors". Hackaday. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  8. ^ August 2021, Aaron Klotz 16 (2021-08-16). "DIY Silicon: Man Builds Integrated Circuit That's Similar to Intel's 4004 CPU". Tom's Hardware. Retrieved 2021-08-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Fleet, Tom (2021-08-17). "Etching PCBs? Sam Zeloof Steps It Up a Notch, and Down a Few Orders of Magnitude, with His Own ICs!". Hackster.io. Hackster.io, an Avnet company. Retrieved 2021-09-05.
  10. ^ Marquez, Javier (2021-08-18). "Un estudiante crea su propio procesador en el garaje de su casa" [A student creates his own processor in the garage of his house]. Hipertextual (in Spanish). Hipertextual SL. Retrieved 2021-09-05.
  11. ^ "#390 – An Interview with Sam Zeloof". The Amp Hour Electronics Podcast. April 30, 2018. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  12. ^ Simonite, Tom. "This 22-Year-Old Builds Chips in His Parents' Garage". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  13. ^ Saha, Shritama (2023-01-10). "OpenAI Eyes Investment in Sam Zeloof & Jim Keller's Chip Startup, Atomic Semi". Analytics India Magazine. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  14. ^ SamZeloof, Youtube. Accessed January 2, 2024. "Sam Zeloof Youtube Channel"
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