It’s a good candidate since it sounds like there’s no precision mechanical components like there would be in a hard drive. Does anyone have ideas for how I’d go about this? Is there a barrier I’m not considering?
I know how to make basic semiconductors already, so that’s not an issue.
Edit: I’ve got an answer written down in the comments now. TL;DR you’d still need lithography to do it the OG way, because of the patterned magnetic material that directed bubbles around the medium, but material requirements are actually pretty flexible.
Here's a link to my favourite YouTuber, Sam Zeloof, on Invidious! If you want to see him actually do it, the "Transistor Step By Step" video is good.
That's one of the big questions. Do I need exotic materials, or were they just better from the perspective of a 1970's manufacturer? If I can make a bad one with some kind of ferrite that's still something.
If it's a matter of electrical control, though, that becomes an analytical problem which I'm pretty good at. I also have the advantage of access to 2020s electronics, so if I need to measure or control things on the order of microseconds it's no big deal.