Sam Zeloof
{{Short description|American semiconductor engineer autodidact}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox person/Wikidata
| caption = Zeloof in 2017
| birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date|17|2017|12|22}}
| birth_place = New Jersey, U.S.
| known_for = Homemade microchip fabrication
| fetchwikidata = ALL
| dateformat = mdy
}}
Sam Zeloof (born {{birth based on age as of date|17|2017|12|22|noage=1}}) is an American electrical engineer and entrepreneur.
{{cite web |url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-high-school-student-whos-building-his-own-integrated-circuits |last=Cass |first=Stephen |date=December 22, 2017 |title=The High School Student Who's Building His Own Integrated Circuits |website=IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News |language=en |access-date=September 1, 2019}} 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 {{ill|Atomic Semi, Inc.|qid=Q130493920|short=1}} which builds tools for small semiconductor fabs.{{url|https://www.linkedin.com/in/samzeloof/}}
Education
Zeloof attended Hunterdon Central Regional High School.[https://tcf.pages.tcnj.edu/files/2018/03/PB2018.pdf#page=6 2018 Program Book], Trenton Computer Festival. Accessed April 7, 2022. "Sam Zeloof is a senior in high school at Hunterdon Central in Flemington, NJ." He then went to Carnegie Mellon University where he studied electrical engineering between 2018–2022.{{cite news |last1=Maderer |first1=Jason |title=Student Turns Old Polaroid Into New Digital Camera |url=https://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2020/october/student-builds-polaroid-camera.html |access-date=January 2, 2024 |work=cmu.edu |date=October 20, 2020}}
Career
Through autodidacticism and help from his father, Zeloof, at the age of 17, constructed a home microchip fabrication facility in his parents' garage. In 2018, he produced the first homebrew lithographically fabricated microchip, the Zeloof Z1,{{cite web |url=https://hackaday.com/2018/05/03/more-details-on-that-first-home-made-lithographically-produced-ic/ |title=More Details On That First Home-Made Lithographically Produced IC |last=List |first=Jenny |date=May 3, 2018 |website=Hackaday |language=en-US |access-date=September 1, 2019}} a PMOS dual differential amplifier chip.{{cite web |url=http://sam.zeloof.xyz/first-ic/ |last=Zeloof |first=Sam |title=First IC :) |date=April 25, 2018 |language=en-US |access-date=September 1, 2019}} In 2021, he achieved a transistor count of 100 with the creation of the Zeloof Z2, a transistor array.{{cite web |last=By |date=August 14, 2021 |title=The Zeloof Z2 {{sic|Inte|rgrated |nolink=y}} Circuit Has 100 Transistors|url=https://hackaday.com/2021/08/14/the-zeloof-z2-intergrated-circuit-has-100-transistors/|access-date=2021-08-16|website=Hackaday|language=en-US}}{{cite web |last=August 2021 |first=Aaron Klotz 16 |date=August 16, 2021 |title=DIY Silicon: Man Builds Integrated Circuit That's Similar to Intel's 4004 CPU |url=https://www.tomshardware.com/news/man-builds-own-silicon-chip-at-home |access-date=August 16, 2021 |website=Tom's Hardware |language=en}}{{cite web |url=https://www.hackster.io/news/etching-pcbs-sam-zeloof-steps-it-up-a-notch-and-down-a-few-orders-of-magnitude-with-his-own-ics-cdb0e297bc1a |title=Etching PCBs? Sam Zeloof Steps It Up a Notch, and Down a Few Orders of Magnitude, with His Own ICs! |date=August 17, 2021 |first=Tom |last=Fleet |website=Hackster.io |publisher=Hackster.io, an Avnet company |access-date=September 5, 2021}}{{cite web |url=https://hipertextual.com/2021/08/un-estudiante-crea-su-propio-procesador-en-el-garaje-de-su-casa |title=Un estudiante crea su propio procesador en el garaje de su casa |date=August 18, 2021 |access-date=September 5, 2021 |website=Hipertextual |publisher=Hipertextual SL |first=Javier |last=Marquez |language=es |trans-title=A student creates his own processor in the garage of his house}}
His work takes partial inspiration from Jeri Ellsworth's "Cooking with Jeri" which demonstrates a homebrew transistor and logic gate fabrication process.{{cite web |url=https://theamphour.com/390-an-interview-with-sam-zeloof/ |title=#390 – An Interview with Sam Zeloof |date=April 30, 2018 |website=The Amp Hour Electronics Podcast |language=en-US |access-date=September 1, 2019}} His photolithography process is currently able to create details as small as 300 nanometers.{{Cite magazine |last=Simonite |first=Tom |title=This 22-Year-Old Builds Chips in His Parents' Garage |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/story/22-year-old-builds-chips-parents-garage/ |access-date=January 23, 2022 |issn=1059-1028}}
In 2022, Zeloof along with Jim Keller started {{ill|Atomic Semi, Inc.|qid=Q130493920|short=1}}, a startup to manufacture small batches of affordable microchips quickly.{{Cite web |last=Saha |first=Shritama |date=January 10, 2023 |title=OpenAI Eyes Investment in Sam Zeloof & Jim Keller’s Chip Startup, Atomic Semi |url=https://analyticsindiamag.com/openai-eyes-investment-in-sam-zeloof-jim-kellers-chip-startup-atomic-semi/ |access-date=February 23, 2023 |website=Analytics India Magazine |language=en-US}}
Zeloof also has a considerable online presence with a Youtube channel[https://www.youtube.com/@SamZeloof SamZeloof], Youtube. Accessed January 2, 2024. "Sam Zeloof Youtube Channel" focusing on microchip and semiconductor manufacturing.
References
External links
- {{Official website}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zeloof, Sam}}
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:American electronics engineers
Category:Hunterdon Central Regional High School alumni
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