Reversing the TL431 voltage regulator IC

[cyrano]

Another interesting read: Reversing the TL431 voltage regulator IC:

http://www.righto.com/2014/05/reverse-engineering-tl431-most-common.html

 

[bluebird]

Pretty mind blowing, this is a great article that brought together a lot of the things I "kinda" knew about IC's. I try to imagine the complex machinery required to manufacture these things. Some things would just be impossible to make after the zombie apocalypse. Something on a lot of peoples minds in these times.
How hard would it be to make a simple transistor with basic materials. To produce doped silicon out of sand, to affix a wire lead under a microscope.  I often think back to a picture of the first Bell Labs transistor under a glass jar I saw once. I think someone posted a video about a home brewed vacuum tube a long time ago, but a home brewed 2N2222 would be a much greater challenge. 

 

[cyrano]

Have a look here:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=diy+semiconductor+fabrication

There's more out there than you'd expect...

 

[JohnRoberts]

The russians have been reverse engineering (copying?) western ICs since the early 4 bit microcontrollers (or before).

JR