"Smoking Gun" - finally!

[mondrasek]

Paul,

About 24 years ago I took a tour of Purdue University's EE department as a potential student.  There we were shown multicolor plots of CAD drawings that were used to make the masks for custom semiconductors.  It was explained that seniors in EE were able to design their own chip and then have three wafers produced for test and evaluation as part of their senior design project.  I'm not sure where they were made or if such programs still exist.  I remember they said the wafers were not fab-ed at the University.  Thought you might try contacting a University EE department or similar institution to see if and how they get short runs of semi conductors.

Maybe you will need to find a way to produce the drawings for the masks first?

I'll ask some salesmen from my company who cover the West Coast if they have ever run across companies or contacts who do anything like this.  Unfortunately our products don't usually end up in the semiconductor industry anymore, but when they did I noticed those people all knew each other and changed employers quite often.  Worth a shot.

Good luck.

M.

[PaulLowrance]

Are you referring to vacuum tube triodes?  It's possible, but one problem with vacuum is the high workfunction. You would need a material with a workfunction (in vacuum) of about 0.1eV to 0.2eV. The workfunction of most elements is around 3 to 5 eV. Making triodes shouldn't be too difficult. You just need a vacuum (rotary vane and a diffusion pump), glass tube, metal plates and wires. Although I don't know how I would seal the glass tube. Perhaps a heated tungsten wire to melt the glass?

Mondrasek, you gave me a good idea. If I demonstrated my diode array to a University professor to prove it's legit, perhaps he could help me design and build a diode array chip using the University equipment.  I don't think all Universities have semiconductor fabrication equipment. Some build their own home brew equipment that's capable of making low quantity components. A few of big Universities probably have the expensive stuff, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, that can quickly & easily make chips. I'm in the middle of performing a long term diode array experiment, which could take another month to complet.  After that I would like to make a data logger and log the diode array output for another month or two.

PL

[xbox hacker]

OK....OK... after lots of reading i will have to say i am hooked..LOL You have peaked my interest.

So, i was looking for some diodes for other experiments i have done in the past with plasma sparks and i came across a Ebayer that is in China selling diodes... the quote in the bottom of his auction reads...

"WE OFFER CUSTOM-MADE PRODUCTION OF DIODES ACCORDING TO THE SPECIFICATION YOU SUPPLY."
here is a link to his store:
http://stores.ebay.com/OT-Electronics

Also i had at one time owned my own SMD PCB machines, for stuffing boards. You had mentioned a need for a for a mask. And i thought you might be able to have a mask made for you. Using a SMD solder stencil. Its lazer cut thin SS....you probably cant get your optimal size you want, but it might be a good choice for the home shop...just a thought...

DAMIT..i wish i still have those machines... 

[sm0ky2]

What is the largest array anyone has made so far? and what were the results??

[PaulLowrance]

OK....OK... after lots of reading i will have to say i am hooked..LOL You have peaked my interest.

Thanks! In trying to be honest and unbiased here, the diode array is the only device I'm aware of, so far, that anyone can replicate *right now* with all of the necessary details that will produce energy without any batteries. Okay, I admit, I've been measuring the DC voltages for 12 months now, so I cannot expect other people to feel as confident as I am. From a conventional physics mathematical perspective and experimental perspective it's looking like a thumbs up!

"WE OFFER CUSTOM-MADE PRODUCTION OF DIODES ACCORDING TO THE SPECIFICATION YOU SUPPLY."

I'll try to contact him. Hopefully he can fabricate chips as well.

What is the largest array anyone has made so far? and what were the results??

I would only consider the diodes "that count."  IOW, if the person is trying to measure for voltage, then it's meaningless to place diodes in-paralle. So then I would say my 156 in-series diode array is the largest so far.


PL