I’ve wondered this occasionally over the years, but never got it working.
I tried just putting a dried piece of chicken bone pressed between two plates (mild compressive stress perpendicular to the bone), and using an inverter just like I would use a crystal. It did not work. Maybe I need a really thin segment?
I have no practical application in mind. I might make a CPU from it for Halloween I guess?
I’m not sure if I would classify it as electronics or necromancy, but I thought it was an interesting question to ask here :)
For higher voltages, you could build a Pierce oscillator from discrete components instead of using a hex inverter.
Right, because I can just build an inverter from discrete transistors. That makes sense. I think that’s what I’ll try next time.