I asked you to save a bankrupt factory and you became the richest man in the world.

Chapter 467: 236-237: Launching a photolithography machine? (4000 words)
Lithography?
ASML?

The two women were not unfamiliar with these two words, but were very familiar with them.

With the development of semiconductor processing technology, the manufacturing process of mobile phone chips has continued to improve, from the initial 0.5μm and 0.35μm to the tens-digit nm era.

By 2016, due to Gao Huaijun's intrusion into time and space, the current progress is much faster than in his previous life, and the 16nm process technology has become the standard for mobile phone processors.

However, Hillhouse’s chip factory cannot even produce 16 nanometers, let alone the most advanced 28 nanometers!

Now we can barely produce 32-nanometer chips.

And this is the result of Hillhouse Capital using some low-end products.

However, the most advanced EUV and the second most advanced DUV are not sold to Hillhouse, which actually shows a lot of clues.

Currently, except for the most advanced EUV which cannot be ordered, China's Huaxin Technology, Huarun Microelectronics, Pengxin Microelectronics, Jetta Semiconductor, etc., ordinary DUV can be sold basically as long as it is ordered!
而被限制出口给高瓴的2050i，2100i基本上可以视作当前最先进的一批DUV光刻机型号，广泛应用于40nm以下的制程产能中，对应28nm、以及未来会涉及到的14nm、10nm、7nm四个主要制程节点。

Although there is no explicit regulation on this, even if Gao Huaijun personally went to Helan at the risk of being detained, he still couldn't handle the 2050i and 2100i. This is enough to explain a lot of problems!
On the way back to China from Helan, he learned that according to the speed of Western operating efficiency, Hillhouse had actually been targeted for a long time.

Therefore, he immediately found the relevant leaders of China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Hillhouse could serve as the initial startup company and use the pre-researched domestic lithography machine products!
The relevant leaders of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology were naturally overjoyed when they heard this!
The degree of cooperation was extremely high and an agreement was reached quickly.

In fact, China has already launched the 02-nanometer lithography machine project in Special Project 28, and it was originally planned to complete the acceptance in December 2020. However, due to various factors such as technological blockades and the inability to mass-produce core components, this time point has obviously been postponed.

It is now January 2017 and the progress is not even halfway through.

But these are not the key points.

All the problems in the engineering sector are actually not problems.

The key point is that there is no market!
Now there is a mature manufacturer, ASML, and a mature substitute manufacturer, Nikon from the island country.

With such a replacement plan, no one in China, whether it is Huaxin International or China Resources Microelectronics, would use domestically produced lithography machines!
Therefore, the people in Project 02 are just trying to make a living, and the people in the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology are aware of the general situation but do not supervise them.

Gao Huaijun actually knew what was going on with the situation.

In later generations, this 02 project hastily produced a product with a core using American technology, and that was it, until it exploded in 2019!

So now that Hillhouse Capital wants to follow up on this lithography machine project, it must have a suitable person to follow up, and this person also needs to be able to communicate with Gao Huaijun at any time.

Then it will be hard to find this candidate!

Shang Yayan is not suitable as she has a child, and Li Yinxin's internal control and internal audit department is about to recruit people, which makes it even more unsuitable.

The only remaining candidate is about to be revealed!
After listening to Gao Huaijun's talk about the 02 project, Tang Ying was puzzled at first, and then relieved. "That is to say, we at Hillhouse may have to intervene in the 02 project lithography machine research and development project that is currently underway."

"But I have a question: why don't we at Hillhouse do it directly? State-led R&D projects are bound to be constrained by many parties, and the R&D progress is bound to be slow. I don't know when we can use it."

Gao Huaijun smiled and patiently explained his ideas.

Because this mission is very critical and it is related to Hillhouse’s most core layout for the future!

Some other capable people, such as Min Weiguo and Wang Fengying, all have their own jobs, while Ning Yuan needs to coordinate the details of execution, so they are not very suitable.

Therefore, it is crucial for Tang Ying to understand his layout clearly.

In fact, he had the same idea at the beginning. He wanted Hillhouse to develop the lithography machine products on its own, which would be fast, efficient and economical, and it would probably be put into operation soon.

But he had discussed this with Li Guangxiu, the head of Hillhouse Chip Factory.

The R&D investment for lithography machines is not small. It is an investment calculated in billions. Even if the development progress is not smooth, hundreds of billions of dollars will be invested and there will probably be little splash.

And the subsequent production costs are equally huge.

If we cannot find a market that can spread the cost of developing and producing lithography machines, then this is destined to be an absolute loss-making business that will never pay off.

And if Hillhouse produces its own lithography machines, then neither Huaxin International nor China Resources Microelectronics will be able to buy lithography machines produced by Hillhouse!

Not only do we have mature products that can serve as core substitutes, but also, as my competitor, what should I do if you try to strangle me later?
Therefore, unless the other company is stupid, it is definitely impossible to buy it.

But if they don't buy, Hillhouse alone will not be able to spread such high R&D costs.

This thing is not a mobile phone that anyone can buy. However, there are only 20 to 30 companies in the world that can buy it.

The main buyers are just the top five companies!

Which company would engage in a business that is doomed to lose money?
Moreover, this loss will last for a long time and there is no end in sight.

By then, Gao Huaijun will not be able to withstand the continuous large-scale losses for a long time!

The real difficulty in manufacturing lithography machines is to create a complete industrial chain, that is, to make money by manufacturing lithography machines, and then develop new generations of technology and iterate the development of lithography machines.

Not only that, the research and development of lithography machines involves too many links and they are too complicated.

Without the resources of the country's top-level design to utilize, completing research and development is simply a distant task.

A lithography machine consists of three key parts.

The first part is the light source, the second part is the optical system, and the third part is the etching workbench.

The technical challenges of each part are comparable to landing on the moon.

The light source section needs to produce extreme deep ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 13.5 nanometers. To produce this ultraviolet light continuously and stably, it is necessary to bombard the small solder balls at a frequency of about 5 times per second.

Only one German company in the world can produce this type of laser. This German company, called TRUMPF, took ten years to develop it. This laser alone has more than 45700 parts.

The optical sector has developed an optical system that can only be manufactured by one German company in the world, the famous Zeiss.

The camera lenses produced by Zeiss are among the best in the world, but the difference between camera lenses and the lenses used in lithography machine optical systems is like the difference between a propeller-spraying airplane and a jet fighter.

Etching workbench, this console is made up of 55000 high-precision parts, and these parts rely on at least patented technologies provided by the Island Country, the Cold Country, the Beautiful Country, Germany, Helan, etc., and none of them can be missing.

In other words, to gather all three systems is equivalent to confronting the whole world!

This would not be possible without the help of the state!

"I have already discussed the previous matters with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Now your job is to stay in the capital for a while. At the same time, I will select a group of people from the two teams of Gaoling Chip and Gaoling Chip Factory to cooperate with you and the 02 special team to conduct corresponding communication and consultation work." "For professional matters, you will be the deputy team leader, and you will mainly be responsible for communication work."

"do you understand?"

Gao Huaijun said this and glanced at Tang Ying's pretty face, which looked a little unhappy.

If she goes to the imperial capital, she will probably have to stay there for at least two years.

This means there will be fewer opportunities to return to Xicheng.

I wonder how many girls in Hillhouse Group are eager for the position of secretary to the president of Hillhouse Group!

She knew that all the beautiful girls in Gao Ling, as long as they were not married or had no boyfriends, actually had more or less some fantasies about Gao Huaijun, hoping for a chance to achieve success overnight.

There are so many women here, all eyeing this position.

I wonder which lucky person will get to sit on it next.

"Understood!"

"It's easy to deal with the people in our company, but what if the people from Project 02 don't listen to our opinions? They are all big shots and I can't command them." Tang Ying suppressed the discomfort in her heart, thought about it, and then gave a shot of prevention and said.

She had been in the imperial capital before and had dealt with that group of people.

They are not like Hillhouse, which does what it says and corrects mistakes immediately. Any changes will have time nodes.

But it’s not the same when dealing with government departments. Sometimes their efficiency is so slow that it is calculated in months, and the anxious people will really make you worried.

"Project 02 is a national priority."

“In the past, it was a mission for the sake of mission.”

"But now it's different. As an early customer, we are not just talking about it. I will invest 2 billion yuan in this project in the name of a horizontal project, and will make payments six times according to the progress. Moreover, this money is only for investment, not for buying lithography machines. There will be another settlement later."

"So, don't worry. You have to understand that people can never get along with money!"

Gao Huaijun laughed and announced the results of their negotiations.

The two girls present were stunned when they heard the three words "one billion".

They knew that lithography machines were very expensive, but they didn't expect them to be so expensive.

Twenbillion yuan was invested in a simple horizontal project!
This is a very large investment.

Although this money was not paid out from the accounts of two more sensitive subsidiaries, Hillhouse Technology and Hillhouse Vehicles, but rather from the profit distribution of "The Wandering Earth" and part of the income from Hillhouse derivatives, this also marked the beginning of one of Hillhouse's few big moves.

But think about it, the cost of a lithography machine is estimated to be between 1.2 million and 4 million U.S. dollars, so the research and development of new products would start at billion U.S. dollars, which is normal.

Now that the incident of 2019 has not happened, the priority of Project 02 is not very high.

Important but not urgent projects.

After all, ASML is still relatively friendly to its customers, and China is actually very weak in chip manufacturing.

Even the strongest Huaxin International is just a small scum.

Under such circumstances, the funds for the 02 special project are actually quite scarce.

Now Hillhouse has injected 2 billion yuan at once. Money makes the world go round. As a special representative, a small investor and an early customer, Tang Ying suddenly has a say.

Although there are some people who just want to get by in the 02 project, there are also many people who can make great achievements in such a large project.

With the promotion of Hillhouse and the launch of the first seed customer, the biggest difficulty of the lithography machine project is to create a complete industrial chain, that is, to make money by manufacturing lithography machines, and then develop a new generation of technology and iterate the development of lithography machines.

This basically means that the initial goal has been achieved.

When Tang Ying saw that Gao Huaijun had actually secretly made such a big move, she could only nod helplessly.

She also knew that this project was Hillhouse's safety valve, and if it was not done, the consequences would be unpredictable.

After understanding the context, she nodded seriously.

"We have to do this, but we have to do it in secret. This is why I don't withdraw money from Hillhouse Technology. Otherwise, if this listed company takes out such a large amount of cash flow and issues an announcement on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the whole world will know that we are going to participate in the National 02 Project. What will foreigners think? So the longer this matter is buried, the better!"

"The team members I found for you are all elites who have worked at Hillhouse for more than three years. They are also loyal and reliable to Hillhouse. You can use them with confidence."

Gao Huaijun waved his hand and gave Tang Ying a person's contact information.

According to Gao Huaijun, this person's name is Tang Zhendong. He joined Hillhouse Chip as soon as he graduated from Huazhong University of Science and Technology. After working at Hillhouse Chip for three years, he went to Hillhouse Chip Factory.

He is one of the few key talents in Hillhouse who understands both chip design and chip manufacturing.

Moreover, he is a good boy from the countryside with a simple background. Before joining Hillhouse, his family could almost be described as penniless. Hillhouse has now provided insurance for his parents and provided this rural family with a minimum living allowance of about 1000 yuan a month. He is very grateful to the company.

The team members found by Gao Huaijun basically have similar backgrounds to Tang Zhendong.

He is from the countryside, a small town student who only works hard to succeed. He has never been abroad, and his parents have benefited from Hillhouse Capital.

After repeated background tests, he still has great confidence that this operation will not be leaked for a long time.

"Okay, I've finished talking about serious matters. Now let's talk about personal matters. Come on, both of you, let's go upstairs and enjoy the moon!" Gao Huaijun drank quite a lot of wine today, and his body was somewhat out of control. He said excitedly with a slightly flushed face, and as he spoke, he put his arms around the two girls' waists.

"what!"

"what?"

Although the two girls were prepared and they each looked out the dark window, they were still frightened by Gao Huaijun's boldness.

Three of us together...

He really dares!

(End of this chapter)