Rebirth 08: Rise from copycat phones

Chapter 195: -nanometer process breakthrough

At the same time, no one would go to this kind of special enterprise to ask: Did you ask Zhiyun Microelectronics to outsource the 45-nanometer chip process, and are you illegally using other people's patented technology?

You can't even find the door...

Setting up shell companies to take official orders is an unspoken rule in the industry. Don’t delve into many things too deeply!
However, this kind of thing is actually not profitable... Mainly for chip foundry companies, the order volume is too small and the high unit price is useless.

To really make money, you have to rely on a large number of commercial orders, often millions or tens of millions of pieces.

But the previous 45-nanometer process could not be commercialized...

You can use it outside this set of chip process rules, but you cannot use it within the rules...Everyone will abide by the rules on the surface unless there are special circumstances. The worst that can happen is a lawsuit!
What Professor Wu Deyi's team has been doing in recent months is trying to bypass many patents and come up with a set of self-developed patented technologies.

Professor Wu Deyi is worthy of being a top leader in the industry. He has very strong technical capabilities and has also been blessed with an A-level scientific research quota arranged by Xu Shenxue.

You should know that Xu Shenxue now has only three A-level scientific research quotas on hand, one of which is in the semiconductor equipment and materials research field under Xiannvshan Holdings. He mainly works on lithography machines, photoresists and some other chip manufacturing equipment.

Zhiyun Semiconductor also has one in the chip design field, which is mainly used for advanced mobile phone SOC. The smooth tape-out of the S200 chip is inseparable from the help of this A-level scientific research quota.

Then the rest is used by Zhiyun Microelectronics in the chip manufacturing field, and is mainly used by Professor Wu Deyi.

The combination of the two powerful forces has brought about an extremely powerful effect. Professor Wu Deyi's current technical research and development capabilities in process technology are estimated to be among the top ten in the world.

In a sense, this person is also the first truly top scientist under Xu Shenxue... although this top level is only achieved after being blessed with systematic scientific research capabilities.

But a top scientist who cheats is still a top scientist!

At the same time, the technical team brought by Professor Wu Deyi, together with the first-class experts recruited vigorously in the country, the technical team itself is of first-class level. With the support of all B-level scientific research quotas, it has demonstrated an internationally first-class level.

Under such circumstances, the process technology team led by Professor Wu Deyi was able to continue to bypass the patents of many other manufacturers and gradually develop a set of process technology of their own. Although not 100%, it is at least more than 90% exclusive technology.

During this period, Zhiyun Group's strategic investment department was also busy, spending money to collect various related patent licenses around the world, and also took advantage of Zhiyun Semiconductor's S100/200 foundry orders to obtain some UMC's patent licenses.

Through self-research and external investment and orders, the patent issues of this 45-nanometer process were finally completely resolved.

After solving the patent problem, they went through repeated experiments and improvements, and finally improved the yield to a commercially viable level. It also passed Zhiyun Semiconductor's process verification and will soon conduct formal wafer testing on the S200 chip.

In mid-May, Xu Shenxue and his team arrived in Tongcheng and watched the first commercial tape-out test of Zhiyun Microelectronics' 45-nanometer production line.

Professor Wu Deyi stood in front of Xu Shenxue with a cheerful look on his face:
"This S200 chip is a very mature design. It has been successfully taped out by UMC and has started small-batch production."
"Using mature chips for testing can also better verify the technical indicators of our self-developed process!"

"Before this, we actually tested the S100 chip, and the test was a huge success. The S100 chip made with our process is not inferior to the process technology used by TSMC, UMC and other factories in terms of key technical indicators."

"This time, we used the more technically difficult S200 chip for tape-out testing to further verify our technical capabilities and yield rate!"

"During the previous S100 test, our yield rate was still a bit low, so we have made a lot of improvements. During this improvement process, we applied for more than patents. According to our prediction, this time the yield rate should be able to reach more than %!"

In chip manufacturing, being able to produce it is only the first step, and then a very high yield must be achieved to have actual commercial value.

If the yield is too low, the chip cost will be very high and lack market competitiveness.

Although Xu Shenxue didn't understand the technical details, he still had some understanding of these basic things. After listening carefully, he said, "Thank you for your hard work, Professor Wu. This is all thanks to you. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to master this 45-nanometer process so quickly!"

Wu Deyi, a middle-aged man in his forties, laughed when he heard this: "Actually, I also want to thank the company. When I worked at STMicroelectronics and other chip factories before, although I achieved certain success, I was always working behind others!"

"After joining the company, it gave me this big platform and almost unlimited support, which allowed me to try out many of the ideas in my mind one by one, and then find a successful path!"

"I feel that after joining the company, my career has taken a step forward." Xu Shenxue listened to this and nodded slightly... The A-level scientific research quota is hanging on your head. If you don't take a step forward in your career, it will only prove that you are a fake.

While the two were talking, the engineers at the front had also completed many preliminary preparations... A lot of the preparations had already begun half a month ago, and what was being carried out today was actually just the most critical process: photolithography!

Chip manufacturing is also a very complicated process, and Xu Shenxue couldn't stay here for too long and just watch it. He came here to only look at the most critical step: lithography.

Afterwards, a group of people were outside, watching through the glass window as the DUV immersion lithography machine imported from the Netherlands in the clean room began to process a wafer under the control of the staff.

The whole process actually looks quite boring... There are no sparks, no earth-shaking events, and everything seems very calm.

Professor Wu Deyi and his team were working on it, and Xu Shenxue felt a little bored after watching for a long time, so he just started chatting with Ding Chengjun, the general manager of Zhiyun Microelectronics.

Although Ding Chengjun is the general manager of Zhiyun Microelectronics and is considered an industry insider who understands some technology, in front of technical experts like Wu Deyi, his academic level is not much different from that of an elementary school student.

So he had nothing to do in the whole process, so he just chatted with Xu Shenxue.

Xu Shenxue said: "If there are no problems with this 45-nanometer process, some of our 45-nanometer chip production may be transferred to Zhiyun Microelectronics in the future. You must be prepared!"

"There are still too few 12-inch wafer fabs nowadays. You can think about it later and build a few more 12-inch wafer fabs. In the future, 45-nanometer and smaller process technologies will need these 12-inch wafer fabs to support them. The future market is huge, but we need to prepare in advance!"

“Try to purchase some key equipment in advance, don’t be afraid to spend money!”

"We don't understand the technical aspects either, so don't get involved too much. We just need to be good stewards. If Professor Wu and his team need equipment or funding, you just give it to them. If they can't get the equipment or don't have enough money, come to me!"

"The company is not short of money, and as for some sensitive equipment, some of our shareholders are quite powerful. As long as the problem is not too sensitive, it won't be a big deal!"

"In addition, for other equipment and materials in the production process, we should focus on supporting our sister companies, and we should give orders for lithography machines when they are due."

"There is also Huasai Electronics, a subsidiary of Fairy Mountain Holdings that makes photoresists. A few days ago, they reported to me that KRF has made considerable progress in the field of photoresists and has produced samples. You can go back and take a look. If the product is usable, use it. Don't worry too much about the cost."

Anyway, the chip foundry revenue of microelectronics is only about ten or twenty billion US dollars a year, so even if there is a loss, it won’t be that big.

Besides, many devices are actually cheaper after they are manufactured. For example, the typical lithography machine, Gulf Technology's I-line lithography machine and the newly launched KRF lithography machine, often have a supply price that is only a fraction of similar foreign products.

Even if the efficiency is lower, the equipment cost is lower. After combining the two, the overall cost of the chip factory can be maintained at a relatively basic balance.

The equipment investment is cheaper in the short term, and it has also begun to attract the attention of other domestic manufacturers...SMIC began to contact Gulf Technology, wanting to get some KRF lithography machines.

In addition to Zhiyun Microelectronics and SMIC, there are actually many chip factories in China that use backward processes. They are also the main force in purchasing I-line lithography machines and Krf lithography machines.

Gulf Technology is also actively contacting these domestic chip manufacturers in an attempt to promote its own lithography machines.

Some results have been achieved...especially after Zhiyun Microelectronics set an example for them, which dispelled the concerns of many chip factories.

In fact, they are also afraid that domestic lithography machines will rip people off... These are high-value equipment that cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Even the seemingly backward i-line lithography machines are actually not cheap.

As long as there are mature foreign products to use, they will not easily take this risk.

Now, Zhiyun Microelectronics, the leading domestic chip foundry, has come out and said, "I have started using this thing, and it works pretty well."

Considering that Gulf Technology's lithography machines are indeed cheap and their after-sales service is also cheap, many domestic chip manufacturers are still somewhat tempted due to cost considerations.

However, if we want to gain more recognition and actually sell the lithography machines, we still need to continue working hard, and there are still many difficulties.

(End of this chapter)