Rebirth 08: Rise from copycat phones

Chapter 524: The Top Five Geniuses in the World

In Southern Optics, Xu Shenxue saw their advanced fifth-generation COMS sensor production line, and also saw the samples of their sixth-generation COMS sensors that were still in the laboratory.

Of course, what’s more important is to see their lithography machine lens production line!
This production line for lithography machine lenses is very different from the factory buildings for conventional industrial products.

What Xu Shenxue saw was a production workshop that was more like a laboratory, with a large number of top-level equipment, and the entire production environment was a highly dust-free environment.

The person in charge of Southern Optics explained: "The lenses produced in the workshop are used in EUV lithography machines. Their plane precision is very high. Any dust in the air falling on them means a 'mountain' appears on the ultra-high precision lens. In order to manufacture such lenses, they must be manufactured in an ultra-clean and dust-free environment!"

"The lenses currently produced in this workshop are the main lenses for the HEUV-300B lithography machine. The mirror diameter reaches one meter, but the surface roughness is only 0.15 picometers, and the surface accuracy, that is, the difference between the peak and valley values, is only nanometers."

"Only lenses with this level of flatness can collect extreme ultraviolet light sources and finally produce a stable 13.5-nanometer extreme ultraviolet light beam for exposure production!"

"In order to achieve this ultra-high precision, we used the XHJ14 molybdenum/silicon composite material developed by the Materials Research Institute of the parent company, which is sufficient to reflect extreme ultraviolet light without absorbing it. At the same time, in terms of processing, we mainly use ion beam polishing, supplemented by magnetorheological polishing and other polishing technologies. By combining a variety of different polishing processes, we gradually flattened the lens and finally met the design requirements!"

"This is Professor Cao Xingchen, the deputy general manager of Nanjiang Technology and general manager of the lithography lens business unit, and our chief scientist. The previous DUV lenses and the current EUV lenses were all made by him and his team!"

Xu Shenxue looked at the old man in front of him, stepped forward with a warm smile on his face and shook Professor Cao's hand: "Thanks to Professor Cao's years of hard work, we were able to develop the crucial lithography lens and break the foreign lithography blockade. The domestic semiconductor industry has flourished, and Professor Cao has made great contributions!"

Professor Cao Xingchen also had a smile on his face: "No, no, I just did my job. And when it comes to technology, I am actually just an old antique who doesn't know much. I used to be able to make lenses for DUV lithography machines, but when it comes to EUV lenses, I am just a figurehead. The main technical work is still done by our young people!"

As he spoke, he slightly turned sideways and pulled out a man in his thirties behind him. "This is Professor Qian Datong, also my student. He is the chief engineer of our EUV lens team. Xiao Qian is a top genius in our optical field. Don't look at his young age, but his technology is second to none in China. Even in the world, I estimate that it can be ranked among the top five!"

“Now, it’s the era of young people!”

Cao Xingchen looked at the bald Qian Datong beside him with a satisfied smile on his face... He boasted that his life was worth it.

A few years ago, he led his team to produce lenses for DUV lithography machines, which was the greatest achievement in the field of scientific research in his life!
Secondly, he trained a good student, Qian Datong, and taught him from his undergraduate stage until he graduated with a doctorate. After graduating with a doctorate, he continued to work with him on lenses for lithography machines.

When it came to the development of EUV lithography lenses, Cao Xingchen felt that his thinking ability could no longer keep up with that of his student. This student was a true genius, and had been very outstanding when he was studying. And after he joined Southern Optics to work on lithography lenses, his talent and genius were even more visible to the naked eye!
Finally, he gritted his teeth and let Qian Datong take over from him as the chief engineer of the EUV lens project and was actually responsible for the research and development of EUV lenses.

Qian Datong did not disappoint his expectations. He led his team to spend several years to develop EUV lenses, proving to the world his talent and hard work in the field of optics!
Cao Xingchen regards that cultivating Qian Datong, a world-class leader who even has the potential to continue growing, for the country and the nation is his second greatest achievement in life!

So when Xu Shenxue came to inspect, Cao Xingchen did not avoid relatives and directly introduced his student Qian Datong!
It's not for money or anything like that. Having achieved this level of technical research and development, both he and his student Qian Datong are not short of money. However, if they want to carry out higher-level scientific research and development, the scientific research environment and financial support must be increasingly advanced.

If Xu Shenxue could pay attention to him, or even look up to him, it would be of great help to his future scientific research career... Who in scientific research doesn't want to be like Professor Wang Binyao in the Fairy Mountain Holdings Materials Research Institute!
There is no upper limit to scientific research funding. Who doesn’t want to do something and there is always the support of the entire group behind them?
Even in my wildest dreams!
Although Cao Xingchen has rich qualifications, he is old and his technical ability cannot keep up with the current cutting-edge technology. At best, he can only be considered first-class in the country. No matter how thick-skinned he is, he feels hopeless.

But his student Qian Datong still has some hope...

He believes that his student's scientific research ability in the field of optics is at least among the top five in the world, and is at the world-class level.

Although he knew that he might have overestimated the true level of his students, but no matter how bad they were, they should be among the top ten in the world, right?
It couldn't be any worse!

Among so many scientists around the world who are engaged in optical research, how many of them can lead their teams to make EUV lenses?
Not many!
And Qian Datong is one of the few!

Such students still have some hope of gaining Xu Shenxue's high attention, and thus obtaining the scientific research environment that scientific researchers dream of: there is no upper limit on scientific research funding, and you can do whatever you want!
Xu Shenxue attached great importance to Cao Xingchen, a scientist of the older generation. When Luo Yinian was recruiting people to form an optical team for Fairy Mountain Holdings, he examined all the top talents available in the field of optics in China.

Finally, Luo Yinian chose Cao Xingchen, a scientist of the older generation, to lead the team!

Cao Xingchen is indeed very capable. He led his team to continuously overcome many technical difficulties and developed the lenses used in DUV lithography machines. Xu Shenxue also knows him quite well.

As for Qian Datong, a student of Cao Xingchen, to be honest, Xu Shenxue didn't know much. After secretly looking through the list of scientific research quotas in the scientific research system, he found that Qian Datong was awarded an A-level scientific research quota.

This guy used an A-level scientific research quota to produce lenses for EUV lithography machines. He is really a talent!

If he were given an S-level scientific research quota, wouldn't he be able to do better and create even more amazing lenses?

Xu Shenxue immediately greeted Qian Datong with a smile, but Qian Datong seemed a little shy, or not good at socializing. He was quite nervous in front of Xu Shenxue and couldn't speak fluently...

Xu Shenxue doesn’t care either!
He has always been very respectful to truly talented technical personnel, and top scientific research talents never feel a sense of distance in front of Xu Shenxue because of his high position.

In front of these top talents, Xu Shenxue has always maintained a very kind and even enthusiastic side.

After a brief exchange, Xu Shenxue personally gave him an S-level scientific research position.

He now has dozens of S-level scientific research quotas on hand, so it won't be a big problem for him.

In the past two years, although Xu Shenxue has accumulated most of the achievement points in the scientific research system to exchange for SS-level scientific research quotas, he still exchanges some S-level scientific research quotas every year.

It is impossible to give Qian Datong an SS-level scientific research quota... He has not yet demonstrated enough value and talent!

Xu Shenxue currently has only three SS-level scientific research quotas worth one million achievement points. Professor Wang Binyao, who works on materials, and Professor Lin Andong, who works on mathematics, have each occupied one for a long time.

There is also an SS-level mobile quota that will be given to some scientists to use in turn depending on the situation.

But basically, it is used in turn by scientists who are researching the most cutting-edge disciplines such as mathematics and physics... They are working on cutting-edge basic theories, aiming to break the current theoretical limits of the human scientific community and create top talents for the future of human science.

Qian Datong is still a little short of this level.

However, it is not a big problem to arrange an S-level one. After all, the EUV lithography machine at the application level is also a very important equipment, and the lenses inside are the core equipment. Scientific research quotas need to be guaranteed.

S-level scientific research quotas are already difficult to obtain. In fact, many top scientists in the various companies under Xu Shenxue do not even have S-level scientific research quotas and can only use A-level scientific research quotas.

Even many industry leaders and prestigious scientists in the eyes of outsiders can only get a B-level scientific research quota.

This is because the scientific research quotas in Xu Shenxue's scientific research system are given priority to core technical personnel. Although management-type technical talents are also given quotas, they are basically only given to low-level scientific research talents.

To put it bluntly, high-level scientific research quotas are only given to people who really get things done, the core technical backbones of the R&D team, and these people are generally young and middle-aged scientists... The field of scientific research requires brains, as well as knowledge reserves and a modern perspective.

This situation is most typical and prominent among mathematicians. A scientist's most productive and outstanding achievements are in his twenties and thirties... This age group is the peak period for a mathematician. What achievements a scientist can make in his life basically depends on the period before the age of forty.

After the age of 40, thinking ability and learning ability will gradually decline. Although some mathematical results can still be achieved, the ability is no longer as good as before the age of 40.

Taking into account the continuous progress of science and people's ability to learn and accept new knowledge, it basically leads to the fact that among the group of scientists, the people who really get things done are often those in their thirties and forties.

Older scientists, after accumulating enough academic achievements and fame, will basically start to switch careers and lead teams, becoming management-type scientists, leading the team to engage in research and development and train young and middle-aged scientists.

Of course, this does not mean that management scientists are not important. In fact, they are very important!

These older generation management scientists have academic reputation, academic connections, and sufficient qualifications to be able to control the situation.

In this way, they can effectively integrate the entire R&D team and give full play to their respective talents, just like Professor Cao Xingchen. If you let him do research in the field of optics by himself, he will not be able to keep up with the current cutting-edge pace. But if you let him lead a cutting-edge optical R&D team and let core scientists like Qian Datong give full play to their talents, that is a piece of cake. So Xu Shenxue attaches great importance to both the older generation of management scientists and the middle-aged and young scientists who really do things...

But this emphasis is reflected in the position.

Scientific research quotas are an exception!

The scientific research quota does not depend on whether you can lead a team or not, it only looks at your scientific research talent and aptitude!
Therefore, Xu Shenxue's SS-level, S-level and even most of the A-level scientific research quotas were given to these middle-aged and young scientists, rather than the older generation of higher-ranking management scientists.

This leads to the following situation: in a research and development team, the older generation scientist who leads the team only has an A-level or B-level scientific research quota, while the middle-aged and young scientists who actually work under him have an S-level scientific research quota.

Of course there are exceptions. Professor Wang Binyao and Professor Lin Andong are exceptions. They lead their own teams and also work, and have SS-level scientific research quotas... This is because their talents are visible to the naked eye, and everyone who sees them has to admit defeat. Even if they don't have any management skills, they can still keep the situation under control!
Furthermore, they are not able to manage themselves, but they are often assigned a few management scientists to help them, so they don’t have to worry about leading a team.

They only need to concentrate on their own research fields. If they give instructions for anything, someone will naturally help them handle it.

After arranging an S-level scientific research quota for Qian Datong, Xu Shenxue asked about the lens production capacity of various types of lithography machines of Southern Optics.

As the vice president of Southern Optics and concurrently the head of the entire lithography lens division, Professor Cao Xingchen introduced to Xu Shenxue: "Our current production is quite good. We expect to ship about 25 sets of lenses used in EUV lithography machines this year. We are also continuously increasing our production capacity and expect to increase it to 35 sets next year!"

"The main product is the lenses used in DUV lithography machines. The shipment volume is quite large. Last year, we shipped about 170 sets in total. This year, the production capacity will continue to rise. We expect the shipment volume to increase to 220 sets. By next year, we hope to increase the shipment volume to 250 sets!"

"We have a lot of flexibility in the production capacity of the lenses used in DUV lithography machines. The specific production capacity depends on the orders for DUV lithography machines from Gulf Technology."

"If there are enough orders for DUV lithography machines from Gulf Technology, we can even provide an annual production capacity of more than 400 sets of lenses if we work overtime."

A vice president of Fairy Mountain Holdings who is in charge of lithography equipment business said: "At present, Gulf Technology's lithography machine orders have basically monopolized the domestic lithography machine orders, and even received a few orders for foreign DUV dry lithography machines. The current order volume is already quite saturated!"

"As for the more advanced DUV immersion lithography equipment, we are currently in a patent lawsuit with ASML, so we cannot enter the European and American markets."

"EUV lithography machines also have patent issues and cannot be sold to the international market. In addition, even if they can be sold, current EUV lithography machines are export-restricted equipment. The export of each set requires special review, so they cannot be exported for the time being!"

China attaches great importance to the semiconductor industry. Especially after the outbreak of the artificial intelligence era, the importance of the semiconductor industry has been reflected to the extreme.

Many core equipment and consumables in the country's most advanced semiconductor industry, as well as equipment for manufacturing semiconductor equipment and consumables and related raw materials have been subject to technical blockades. If you want to export them, you need to conduct a separate review!
The reason why there is a loophole for separate review is because there are similar products abroad... Otherwise, there would not even be this loophole, but a direct and complete export ban.

Patent and export restriction issues have also resulted in very few overseas orders for Gulf Technology's advanced lithography machines, and it basically relies on the domestic market to survive.

However, there is actually no market for semiconductor equipment abroad, and there are not many companies engaged in semiconductor manufacturing... The reputable companies are either across the strait, in South Korea, in the United States, and finally in China.

There are few advanced semiconductor manufacturing industries in other places and countries.

ASML dominates the markets in Korea, the U.S., and across the Taiwan Strait. DUV immersion photonics and EUV lithography machines under Gulf Technology cannot enter the market due to patent restrictions.

However, there are no patent restrictions for DUV dry lithography machines. They are basically independently developed patents and can be sold globally. However, they also have to compete with companies such as ASML and Canon, and they do not receive many overseas orders.

Therefore, the entire Gulf Technology's lithography machine orders are limited. The majority are contributed by Zhiyun Microelectronics, a small part is contributed by domestic semiconductor companies such as SMIC, and only a few are foreign orders.

But even so, Gulf Technology's shipments of lithography machines are still very large, having caught up with ASML and even showing signs of surpassing it.

After all, the domestic semiconductor manufacturing industry is developing rapidly, and the demand for lithography machines is very large.

The lithography machine market itself is a very niche market. The procurement volume of EUV lithography machines is only a few dozen units a year. There are more DUV immersion lithography machines, but only about one or two hundred units at most. There are more DUV dry lithography machines, and it is estimated that there are several hundred units.

As for the I-line and G-line lithography machines with mature technology, there is also a market for several hundred of them. Especially in China, the demand is very large. Gulf Technology can also ship more than one hundred of these mature technology lithography machines every year.

The production and sales volume of lenses of Southern Optics is entirely dependent on Gulf Technology.

Xu Shenxue took a quick look and said, "So, the current DUV lithography machine has no major problems with lenses, and there is even spare capacity, but the EUV lens capacity is insufficient, right?"

Professor Cao Xingchen said: "That's right."

Whether DUV lithography machines can be sold depends on market demand!
How many EUV lithography machines can be sold depends on production capacity... At this stage, as many as can be produced can be sold, but the production capacity is too low. This year, there are only more than 20 sets of production capacity, which is not enough to supply Zhiyun Microelectronics alone.

Zhiyun Microelectronics is working hard on the second-generation seven-nanometer and five-nanometer processes, and both processes use the HEUV-300B lithography machine, for which there is a huge demand.

As for other domestic manufacturers, only SMIC has ordered several EUV lithography machines to try to enter the more advanced 10-nanometer process or even 7-nanometer process, while other manufacturers do not have the courage to develop the more advanced 7-nanometer process...

The investment is too large and the technology is too difficult to do.

In fact, many domestic semiconductor manufacturers are still at the 45-nanometer process node and the 28-nanometer process node.

Currently, there are only two domestic semiconductor factories that can produce 14-nanometer process nodes: Zhiyun Microelectronics and SMIC. Other manufacturers are not yet able to do so.

In fact, the hardware equipment level of several domestic semiconductor manufacturers is already very good. Many of them use advanced lithography machines such as HDUV-600B. This lithography machine is developed for double exposure and is very suitable for the -nanometer process node.

As long as the technical capabilities are strong enough, they can even use this lithography machine to produce the equivalent of a seven-nanometer process like Zhiyun Microelectronics, which is the first-generation seven-nanometer process promoted by Zhiyun Microelectronics.

But... many manufacturers use this advanced lithography machine to produce 28-nanometer process. At best, they can only explore and develop 22-nanometer process, and it is still a long way from 14-nanometer process.

No matter how good the kitchen knife is, if the chef’s cooking skills are not good enough, he can’t cook a delicious meal!

Other domestic semiconductor manufacturers are mainly engaged in mid- and low-end semiconductor manufacturing, and only SMIC has some ambition to develop advanced technology.

The technological gap between them and Zhiyun Microelectronics is too big!

Zhiyun Microelectronics has already mass-produced the second-generation seven-nanometer process and is even preparing to conduct technical verification of the equivalent five-nanometer process.

We have also started technical development work on the equivalent three-nanometer process for double exposure of EUV lithography machines.

Zhiyun Microelectronics uses the most advanced process technology and competes head-on with TSMC, Samsung, and Intel.

It is very different from other domestic semiconductor manufacturers.

A company like Zhiyun Microelectronics has a huge demand for EUV lithography machines. The current EUV lithography machine production capacity of Gulf Technology is not enough to supply Zhiyun Microelectronics.

However, the production capacity of EUV lithography machines is insufficient, and there is no good solution in the short term, so the only option is to gradually increase the production capacity.

We hope that next year we can take our production capacity to a higher level without affecting Zhiyun Microelectronics’ capacity expansion at the 7/5nm process nodes!
Not to mention affecting the production of Zhiyun Group’s AI/APO series server GPU cores and S series mobile phone SOCs!
These two products are of great importance and cannot be lost!

(End of this chapter)