Why can sand think?
Semiconductors
Start with the material at the heart of a microchip. What makes silicon so useful?
PublishedTHE FIRST EXPEDITION · 10 EPISODES
Sand. Silicon. Supercomputers.
A guided journey through the ideas, inventions and people that made modern electronics possible.
A few wrong atoms on purpose
Doping
How carefully chosen impurities change the way a crystal carries electricity.
PublishedThe one-way street
Diodes & rectifiers
Bring two kinds of semiconductor together and discover the p–n junction.
Published1947: enter the transistor
The invention
The people and experiments behind a device that changed electronics.
PublishedSwitch. Amplify. Repeat.
BJT & MOSFET
How a small electrical signal controls a larger one, and why that matters.
PublishedPrinting circuits with light
Integrated circuits
From individual components to whole circuits on a sliver of silicon.
COMING SOONLogic from switches
Gates, CMOS & the 555
How on and off become the building blocks of a computer.
PublishedHow silicon remembers
RAM, ROM & flash
What changes inside a chip when you save something?
COMING SOONNot all chips think alike
CPU, ASIC, FPGA & GPU
Generalists, specialists, and the processors powering modern AI.
COMING SOONBeyond the chip
Data centres & what’s next
Put it all together, then explore the next challenges for computing.
COMING SOON