What started as an ordinary garden shed has become a functioning semiconductor research facility. A TechTuber called Dr. Semiconductor has successfully created a 'Class 100 cleanroom' (ISO 5) in his garden shed. The project challenges a widespread assumption that cutting-edge chip research demands massive industrial facilities and billion-dollar budgets.
Key to everything is HEPA filtration along with positive pressure, to constantly push clean air into the cleanroom, while preventing dirty air from flowing in. Dr.Semiconductor used mainstream and widely available materials for the build. We're talking insulation, framing to support HEPA filters, heating and cooling kit, and so on. The transformation involved flame-resistant drywall and epoxy coating to create a smooth, particle-free surface on the walls.
The cleanroom is divided into two sections: a gowning area where workers suit up, and the main cleanroom itself. 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. This means the shed meets the same air purity standards as professional semiconductor fabrication plants worldwide.
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 compactness of the space doesn't diminish functionality; every inch is engineered for specific manufacturing tasks.
Yet the project reveals an important reality about hobby chip manufacturing. Building a cleanroom proved manageable, but acquiring the specialised equipment is where costs spiral. You'll need a mere few hundred million dollars for the latest ASML lithography machine. And hundreds of millions more in digital design tools, some e-beam writers and plasma etchers to make your lithography masks, an ion doping implanter and an atomic layer deposition tool or three, and a mini packing plant, to mention but a small fraction of the hardware involved.
Dr. Semiconductor has teased future videos showing what can actually be built within the shed's walls, from circuits and sensors to LEDs. The project opens a window into what hobbyist semiconductor research looks like in 2026; not a return to kitchen-table tinkering, but rather the marriage of accessible materials science with increasingly accessible information about microfabrication techniques.