Still, even the broken stuff is very expensive. Somewhere near the beginning he said he cut the wafers with a CNC laser. We have one of those at university (very entry level) for cutting wood and it cost over 10k. The few community driven fablabs that have lasers almost never allow people to cut their own materials because they can produce toxic gases or reflections that damage the laser optics.

Even if you're the next Albert Einstein you will never be able to even attempt a project like that unless your parents are rich or you can find a generous benefactor at some institution who allows you to use their equipment.

He also purchased a decommissioned, broken electron microscope from a university lab on eBay, and repaired it by himself.