Rebirth 08: Rise from copycat phones

Chapter 424 Sanctions: % Auto Tariffs
Shenzhen, Building No. 3 of Gulf Technology, which is also the first-floor laboratory of the EUV project office building.

Xu Shenxue, accompanied by several group executives and people from Gulf Technology, visited the EUV lithography machine prototype.

The EUV lithography machine doesn't look like anything special just by looking at its appearance. It's just a big cabinet... Just looking at this big cabinet, it's hard for ordinary people to imagine that the price of this thing is at least US$150 million or even more.

At this time, Wang Daolin, CEO of Gulf Technology, excitedly introduced the basic situation of the prototype to Xu Shenxue: "During the development of our prototype, we have gone through many test models to gradually improve the technical level!"

"For example, in terms of the key technical parameter, that is, the numerical aperture, we could only achieve 0.25 at the beginning. At this level of numerical aperture, even if we used extreme ultraviolet light with a shorter wavelength, the final resolution was still not good. The resolution of the first generation test machine was only nanometers!"

"We continued our research and development, and through the integration of multiple systems and the further application of advanced materials, we were able to increase the numerical aperture to 0.33, which is the same level as ASML's products abroad."

"At the same time, we have also made great technological progress in other subsystems, especially the light source system and lens system. By the time we got to the second-generation test machine, we had already improved the resolution to 20 nanometers!"

"In theory, this resolution is already very good and can be used to produce chips with 10-nanometer equivalent processes, 12-nanometer equivalent processes, or even 7-nanometer equivalent processes!"

"But the cost-effectiveness is too low. The current EUV lithography machine requires huge R&D costs, and the manufacturing hardware costs will also be very high. The final selling price may be more than twice that of the existing DUV immersion lithography machine. However, the production efficiency of EUV lithography machines cannot be improved at present, and is only maintained at the level of 100 wafers per hour. This means that in terms of commercial value, the second-generation test machine still has no practical value. At the same time, the overlay accuracy at that time was only 2.5 nanometers."

"The most advanced HDUV-600B lithography machine we are currently mass-producing has a resolution of 38 nanometers and an overlay accuracy of 2.5 nanometers. It can fully meet the production needs of 10-14 nanometer chips and has a higher cost-effectiveness!"

"On the whole, the second-generation test machine does not have commercial potential due to its cost-effectiveness, so we continue to improve it based on the second-generation test machine!"

"Since last year, we have started to deeply improve the research and development of the third-generation test machine, mainly to further improve the resolution and overlay accuracy, and also to further improve the work efficiency and stability of the machine in preparation for commercial production."

"Through a lot of technical research and development, and with the cooperation of many cooperative enterprises under Fairy Mountain, we have successively carried out substantial technical upgrades in the light source system, exposure system, machine system, etc."

"Finally, we have created this third-generation test aircraft, which is also the prototype of the mass-production model: HEUV-300A!"

"After a lot of technical upgrades, our HEUV-300A now has a resolution of 0.33 nanometers and a numerical aperture of 2. Most importantly, the overlay accuracy has been improved to nanometers."

"Among them, the improvement in overlay accuracy is a huge technological advancement, which means that we can use this lithography machine to produce chips equivalent to 7-nanometer process at a low cost, or even produce chips equivalent to -nanometer process!"

Xu Shenxue has been working in semiconductors for so many years, and he has a more or less clear understanding of the relationship between semiconductor equipment and processes.

Just by hearing the resolution of the 14-nanometer process, he knew the great value of this EUV lithography machine.

The quality of chip processing is closely related to the resolution and overlay accuracy of the lithography machine.

Chip factories generally use equivalent processes to promote the quality of chip technology. Zhiyun's 18-nanometer, 14-nanometer, 12-nanometer, and 10-nanometer processes are all equivalent processes, and TSMC's 20-nanometer, 16-nanometer, and 10-nanometer processes are also equivalent processes... It doesn't mean that the metal spacing of the chip has really reached this level.

The chip industry generally uses multiple key data to judge the quality of chip technology, and the one that is most closely related to the lithography machine is the semi-metal spacing.

For example, Zhiyun Semiconductor's 14-nanometer process has a half-metal pitch of 43 nanometers; and the equivalent 10-nanometer process, which was just launched on the market this year, has a half-metal pitch of 32 nanometers.

The equivalent seven-nanometer process, which is currently under development and expected to be put into production next year, will have a half-metal pitch of twenty-seven.

TSMC and Quad Core next door are at similar levels in each process node. There are some deviations, but they are not large.

When it comes to the 27-nanometer half-metal pitch, which is equivalent to the 7-nanometer process node, the DUV immersion lithography machine has reached the physical theoretical limit due to the limitation of resolution, and it is difficult to continue to work on it. For example, it is difficult to work on the equivalent of 5-nanometer process... Of course, it is not impossible. If the overlay accuracy can be achieved to the level of 2 nanometers, it can be barely high, but the cost will be sky-high...

Zhiyun Semiconductor and TSMC across the board are actually trying to use DUV immersion lithography machines to produce chips with an equivalent five-nanometer process...well, they are trying to reduce the semi-metal spacing of the chip to about 25 nanometers.

Even though it is only a two-nanometer improvement in semi-metal technology, it is still an incredible chasm and very difficult to achieve.

So even though everyone is working on it, in fact, no one has taken this technical approach... Using DUV immersion lithography machines to make chips equivalent to five nanometers is ridiculous and not worth it from a commercial perspective.

Therefore, when it comes to the technical route of using DUV immersion lithography machines to manufacture the equivalent of a five-nanometer process, these two competitors in advanced chip processes have all been making a lot of noise but not much results...and they are all counting on EUV lithography machines.

As for Samsung and Intel, their situation is even worse. They haven't even developed the 10-nanometer process, which is about 33.5-metal process nodes.

The equivalent of seven nanometers is still a long way off...

Among them, Intel was restricted by various circumstances, and its technological advancement was very unsuccessful, so it could only make modifications on the 14-nanometer process.

As for Four Star, Professor Liang Song was poached by Zhiyun Semiconductor. Without the assistance of top talents, it is difficult for them to develop advanced technology, and they are still stuck in the 14-nanometer process.

At the same time, these two semiconductor manufacturers are now also beginning to count on the use of EUV lithography machines to carry out subsequent seven-nanometer processes... Using DUV immersion lithography machines to perform quadruple exposure and then produce the equivalent of seven nanometers is too damn difficult.

Therefore, the DUV immersion lithography machine is limited by its own resolution. It is extremely difficult to achieve the equivalent of five nanometers, let alone the equivalent of seven nanometers. It is not that it cannot be done, but the yield is too low, which leads to a surge in chip costs.

Chips are very cost-effective. If the performance is not improved much but the cost increases several times, there is no market value at all.

When it comes to the stage of equivalent seven-nanometer process, EUV lithography is actually needed... Because its resolution is lower, even a single exposure can achieve the accuracy of quadruple exposure of DUV immersion lithography... What does this mean?
Save money!
Even though EUV lithography machines are more expensive and have lower production efficiency, they can produce chips equivalent to seven-nanometer or even five-nanometer processes without the need for quadruple exposure. Therefore, the cost of producing chips equivalent to seven-nanometer and five-nanometer processes is still lower than that of DUV immersion lithography machines.

Of course, EUV lithography machines have greater potential and will be able to produce chips with better performance in the future, which is something that current DUV immersion lithography machines cannot do.

For example, in the future, when chip process technology is further developed and the semi-metal spacing of the chip is further increased to more than 40 nanometers, more than 30 nanometers, or even more than 20 nanometers, more than 10 nanometers... the DUV immersion lithography machine will never be able to do it. This has nothing to do with the process, but the physical limit is here, and the basic laws of physics cannot be ignored!

The seven-nanometer and five-nanometer stages save money and are cost-effective.

The equivalent of three nanometers, two nanometers, and one and a half nanometers, the one nanometer stage is a hard requirement...it cannot be manufactured without it.

The above two points are the reason why Xu Shenxue is determined to develop EUV lithography machines no matter what!

By the way, even though Zhiyun Group is secretly developing a superconducting quantum computer that will be released as a commercial model next year, its core component, the "superconducting quantum chip", is also produced using a lithography machine, and the process requirements are very high, which requires a high-end lithography machine.

On the contrary, the photonic quantum computers that are being developed by other domestic institutions also require lithography machines to produce chips, but the performance requirements for the lithography machines are not high.

Now, with the birth of this third-generation testing machine, the last shackle that has troubled Zhiyun Group and even China's electronics industry has been completely broken.

So now Xu Shenxue's biggest concern is: "This prototype looks quite mature. When can it be mass-produced and commercialized?"

Wang Daolin, CEO of Gulf Technology, said: "When we designed this prototype, we were aiming for a mass production model. From a technical perspective, we have already completed all the technical links and can produce more HEUV-300A lithography machines at any time. However, it is only a prototype after all. Even if it is feasible in theory, it is still unclear what problems will be exposed in actual long-term use. We still need to conduct various tests on it for a certain period of time to find out many potential problems."

"But starting next month, we can provide Zhiyun Microelectronics with a small number of experimental models for preliminary testing!"

"For the formal mass production model, we still need to see whether the subsequent testing work goes smoothly and how long it will take, and in this regard, we still need the cooperation of Zhiyun Microelectronics!"

At this time, Xu Shenxue looked at Ding Chengjun, CEO of Zhiyun Microelectronics, who was accompanying him for inspection and asked, "How long will it take you to complete these tests?"

Ding Chengjun pondered for a while and said: "If we order EUV lithography machines, they must be used in the equivalent of 7-nanometer process and the future equivalent of 5-nanometer process. At present, our 7-nanometer process technology is based on DUV immersion lithography machines, and this set of processes is very different from the process technology of EUV lithography machines!"

"Although we have obtained some secret information about foreign EUV lithography machines and tried to carry out theoretical process development preparations, it is still very imperfect!"

"Of course, we are confident that the lithography machine testing work can be completed within one year, and the 7-nanometer process of EUV lithography machine is expected to be completed in about two years!"

Xu Shenxue thought about it and realized that this meant that around next winter, the mass-produced model of the EUV lithography machine would be able to be mass-produced and delivered to Zhiyun Microelectronics. By the second half of the year after next, the technical certification of the EUV lithography machine equivalent to the seven-nanometer process should be completed, and large-scale production would begin in the beginning of the year after next.

This will replace the equivalent seven-nanometer process of the current DUV immersion lithography machine, which is extremely expensive and difficult to use.

This schedule is acceptable.

At least faster than competitors ASML and TSMC...

why?
Because according to the intelligence department under Xu Shenxue, ASML's EUV lithography project has not been very smooth... It's not that the technology is not good, their technology comes from all over the world, and they can get very good subsystems. The main thing is that there are problems here today, and there are problems there tomorrow, which delays time... There are too many troubles!

Well, it’s basically all thanks to Galaxy Security!
ASML only launched its fourth-generation experimental model at the beginning of this year. According to feedback from the intelligence department, the resolution of their fourth-generation experimental model has reached 16 nanometers, but the overlay accuracy is still only 2.5 nanometers. It is a typical experimental model and is not cost-effective to use for commercial production.

This fourth-generation experimental model was just delivered to TSMC for various tests in the summer... Galaxy Security has tried to obstruct it, but Apple, Qualcomm, AMD and a large number of other American chip manufacturers are now counting on TSMC's technology to keep up with Zhiyun Microelectronics, or even surpass Zhiyun Microelectronics.

Because now the United States no longer has its own advanced professional chip foundry... AMD's chip factory was sold a long time ago and is now in decline. It still uses 4K's backward 14-nanometer process technology. Intel is now also stuck in the 14-nanometer process, and Intel does not outsource its production.

So now these European and American chip manufacturers are facing fierce competition from Zhiyun Group. In order to keep up with the technology, they can only choose TSMC for foundry... They have no choice.

The consortiums behind these American high-tech companies naturally would not sit idly by and watch that bastard Xu Shenxue come to cause trouble again, so they also dispatched a large-scale security force to escort this fourth-generation test aircraft throughout the entire process, to protect the supply of spare parts and the personal safety of core engineers. For this reason, the security personnel of both sides had another fierce fight this summer.

When the first fourth-generation test aircraft was transported from their factory to the airport... not only was it transported in secret, but the opposing consortium also sent more than one hundred fully armed security personnel to provide full protection throughout the journey... for fear that it would be blown up by a rocket from nowhere!
Don't think it's an exaggeration. Those crazy people at Galaxy Security are really capable of doing such a thing.

However, despite the crazy efforts of Galaxy Security, they were unable to stop the smooth transportation of this lithography machine to TSMC... After all, the security personnel on the opposite side were no pushovers.

No one in the outside world knows until now that dozens of people were killed or injured on both sides over ASML's fourth-generation testing machine.

The main reason is that this kind of thing is not suitable to be made public. Both sides tacitly adopted the method of fighting secretly. Where the armed conflict broke out, the local consortium also consciously helped to clean up the mess... No one wants ordinary people to see the scene of consortiums fighting each other. The impact is too bad.

In fact, many other local consortiums have strong opinions about Xu Shenxue and the American consortium!

You two families can fight, but please don't come to my place and mess around. There were car accidents, shootings, and rocket launchers. It's going to be very troublesome to clean up your messes, okay...

After all the hard work, this fourth-generation test machine was finally delivered to TSMC, where it was installed and tested.

It will take at least a year for TSMC to complete various tests and then provide feedback to ASML, which will make improvements based on the experimental data.

Even if everything goes well, it will take at least two years for TSMC to get a mass-production model of lithography machine.

By that time, the company's own EUV lithography machines will have already started producing chips.

After thinking about it for a while, Xu Shenxue felt that it was time to negotiate with the opposing consortium... After all, what he could do, the other side could also do.

In recent years, some companies under Fairy Mountain Holdings have suffered various types of damage. However, the security force of Zhiyun Group is strong enough, and with the assistance of local security agencies, no major incidents have occurred... But it is not easy to continue like this. Professor Wang Binyao, the chief scientist of Fairy Mountain Holdings and the person who developed many core materials for EUV lithography machines, has to bring dozens of people with him whenever he goes out in the past two years.

Now that the HDUV-300A is out... Once the other party finds out, they will most likely be unable to resist and take large-scale action.

This is just like what Xu Shenxue did in the summer. When he learned that ASML had managed to develop the fourth-generation test machine despite all the obstruction from its own side, he personally ordered all kinds of sabotage and obstruction. As a result, the security personnel under Galaxy Security pounced on Europe like mad dogs.

If you can't help but take action, the other party will probably not be able to help himself either.

They are all world-class conglomerates, and no one is kinder than the other!
Now both sides have already developed prototypes, and the mass production time is almost the same... At this time, there is no practical significance in continuing to entangle each other in the field of EUV lithography machines.

Anyway, Xu Shenxue’s goal is very simple. I can’t use the EUV lithography machine, and neither can you.

If they are used together, Xu Shenxue actually has no objection... Just like the current DUV immersion lithography machine, everyone is using it, and then everyone can rely on their own strength to play with chip manufacturing technology and chip design.

Zhiyun Group has advantages in chip manufacturing process technology and chip design technology.

Taking this into consideration, after returning home that night, Xu Shenxue made a phone call to the other side of the Pacific Ocean and had a brief chat.

In this kind of situation, Xu Shenxue only started it, and the other party guessed what he was thinking.

At the beginning, he was quite stubborn and said that it was easy for you, Xu Shenxue, to start a war, but it was not so easy to end it.

If you want to fight, you fight. If you don’t want to fight, you don’t fight. You think the earth is your home. How dare you be so shameless?
But Xu Shenxue was not a good person. He became annoyed and said directly: Either both sides stop fighting, or the war escalates... You choose one!
Then the opponent got scared... Upgrading is bullshit, now they are just cannon fodder fighting, I don’t care how many die, but if you want to upgrade, I won’t accompany you.

My life is precious. Do you think everyone has a miserable life like you, Xu Shenxue?

So, the other side says that all human beings on earth are one family, fighting and killing are bad, and friendship and peace are the future of mankind.

When the other side got scared, Xu Shenxue naturally said some nice things, saying that cooperation is the future, the earth is just a tiny place, we will meet each other sooner or later, it's good for everyone to do business together, there is no need to create conflict!

Anyway, you and I have almost mastered the EUV lithography machine. There is not much point in creating obstacles except for causing more deaths on both sides. I can't stop you and you can't stop me, so we might as well just reconcile.

Then we can compete within the business rules and everyone can try their best to plunder the global market. It would be great, especially in Europe, which is so rich that it would be painful if we didn't take a few bites.

The two sides argued for nearly half an hour and finally reached a temporary verbal agreement to temporarily stop the war in the field of lithography machines, and then everyone would use EUV lithography machines together. At the same time, they also reached another agreement to control the advanced semiconductor process technology with EUV lithography machines as the core and not to export it indiscriminately!

The world does not need a third country capable of possessing advanced semiconductor technology.

The other side also specifically emphasized India... saying that those Indians have been seeking to obtain advanced semiconductor technology. I have already rejected them. Don't be confused, Xu Shenxue. You must blockade them if necessary, otherwise they will be a disaster!
After the two parties reached a verbal agreement on this matter, the next thing became simple... There was no need to hide the various actions regarding the EUV lithography machine for fear of being sabotaged by the opponent.

First, ASML held a press conference one step ahead of time, announcing several major technological breakthroughs in its EUV lithography technology. Its fourth-generation test machine has entered the testing phase, and mass-produced models are expected to be launched on the market within two years.

A week later, Gulf Technology, a subsidiary of Fairy Mountain Holdings, also held a press conference, officially announcing the information of the HEUV-300A prototype, and announced that it is expected to go into mass production within two years, reaching a new peak in the field of chip manufacturing!
The two major lithography machine giants announced major technological advances in EUV lithography machines at the same time within a week, which once again caused a stir in the technology industry.

The industry has been looking forward to the EUV lithography machine for more than ten years, ever since ASML developed the first test machine in 2006. However, it has always been in various tests and has never been put into mass production, let alone the field of chip batch manufacturing.

Today, the two major lithography giants have announced that within two years, EUV lithography machines will be put into mass production and can manufacture chips equivalent to seven nanometers or even more advanced chips.

This is big news!
This means that the computing power of the chip can continue to increase steadily without having to worry about it becoming unsustainable after the equivalent seven-nanometer process.

This has huge positive significance for the overall technological development of mankind.

Especially now that mobile Internet is widely used around the world, various smart terminals are emerging one after another, and artificial intelligence technology is gradually being applied, human society has progressed towards an intelligent era.

This also means higher demand for chips.

A series of technological advances surrounding chips are directly related to the technological progress of human society as a whole.

Today, chip technology can continue to improve, which has made many people in the industry breathe a sigh of relief... There is a lot to look forward to in the future!
However, although Xu Shenxue and the opposing consortium reached a settlement in the field of EUV lithography machines...it was only limited to this field.

Competition in other areas remains fierce.

At the same time, the opposing consortium is not just one, but many, and there are conflicts of interest among them. Not everyone is willing to negotiate with Xu Shenxue.

Especially in the automotive field, as HaiLan Automobile under Xu Shenxue has been developing better and better, especially after launching the two models of HaiLan SLMC and HaiLan MEV priced at around 300,000 yuan to the market, they have sold very well all over the world.

Even in the North American market, it sells very well and even has the potential to surpass Tesla.

Under such circumstances, several of the financial groups on the other side finally couldn't help themselves...

However, this time, they did not impose any sanctions or blockades directly on HaiLan Automobile as a single company. This is inappropriate... After all, HaiLan Automobile is quite disciplined in doing business overseas, and it is not easy to find excuses.

In addition, Xu Shenxue has a bad temper. If you ban HaiLan Automobile alone, it will be a slap in the face for Xu Shenxue, and he will dare to force American brand cars to get out of the Chinese market.

So, they came up with a compromise: for all cars from China, the tariffs were directly raised to 100%!
What I mean is: I am not targeting you, Xu Shenxue, nor am I targeting Hailan Automobile under your control... This is normal trade protection, this is business competition within the rules, and if you, Xu Shenxue, get angry and throw a rocket launcher directly, that is not against the rules!

(End of this chapter)