Instructions for building the Sky130 30000:1 scale inverter. Kits available or print your own!

The 3D structures created within a silicon die are spectacular to see.

Thanks to Maximo (@maxiborga on Twitter), there’s now a video for 3D rendering ASIC designs enabling anyone to convert their ASIC design into a beautiful 3D rendering.

3D-rendered chip in Blender

His walkthrough shows how to convert GDS to STL files, enabling you to import the files in image editing software like Blender.

ASICs pack in billions of transistors per square centimeter, making their construction and functionality impossible to understand with the naked eye.

In fact, the upcoming 2 nanometer technology will be so small* that the transistor dimensions will only be 20X larger than an individual atom.

Wouldn’t it be great to see how ASICs are built in 3D at a scale that our bulky human hands can appreciate?

Well wait no longer! Thanks to Thorsten Knoll’s guide, you can now 3D print the cells that make up an ASIC using the GDS files.