No Acid: Open ICs with a Tesla Coil

We've disassembled ICs before, but if they're in an epoxy package, it requires labware and a lot of security. Typically you'll heat the part and use steaming nitric acid (nasty stuff) in a cavity milled into the part to remove the epoxy on the die. Although [100dollarhacker] doesn't provide much detail, it appears to have used a Tesla coil to do so - no hot acid needed.

Early results were promising, but took a while to work. In addition, the coil becomes very hot and there is a risk of flames. The next attempt used a 3D-printed cone with a fan to push plasma across the chip. The first attempt shorted something, and so far every attempt has ended up burning out the MOSFET driver.

We're always interested in the practical uses of Tesla coils and what's inside integrated circuits, so this project naturally appealed to us. We hope to see more achievements reported on the Hackaday.io page soon. In the meantime, if you have a coil and an old IC lying around, give it a try. Maybe you will figure out how to make it work properly and if you do let us know.

The easiest chips to open are ceramic packages with a gold lid. Just use a hobby knife. There are less harmful chemicals you can use. If you want to use smoking nitric, make sure you know what you're doing and maybe make some yourself.