The Red Era, the Opening University Speech

Chapter 183 Distributed Projection Lithography Machine is Successfully Developed
Working around the clock in various supercomputer research and development groups every day, he needs to organize and control the progress in a timely manner.

At present, the overall progress of the hardware group is relatively smooth, but the heat dissipation problem has not been solved. Last time he proposed a liquid cooling method, he encountered considerable difficulties in actual research.

It is definitely not realistic to use traditional air cooling technology to dissipate heat for supercomputers. The only way is to turn to liquid cooling, but liquid cooling technology has only just appeared in the world, and it will take a lot of time to make a breakthrough.

There is also the issue of energy consumption, which has not been noticed yet, but will definitely become prominent in the future.

Given the huge size of supercomputers, the energy consumption required to run them would be a rather exaggerated number.

The only way is to optimize the processor, cooling system, software, parallel computing, data compression and storage.

In short, it is not enough to just be usable; it also has to be done well.

This undoubtedly increases the difficulty of the research.

"We need to think of ways to cultivate a reserve of talent in computing technology. There are very few application cases in the country now, and the original teaching materials only have programmable digital switches. This time we can add some parts on electronic watches and handheld game consoles." Li Mu thought to himself.

The development of the software will not be limited to a supercomputer. Subsequent applications in the military, medicine, meteorology, simulation of giant mushroom experiments, etc. will all require specialized application software to support them.

……

While thinking, Li Mu took notes in his notebook. When he finished sorting out most of it, it was already 11 o'clock in the middle of the night.

Officer Zhao, who was sitting by the bed reading a book, saw him raise his head and reminded him in time: "It's almost time to rest."

"Don't worry, I'll study for a while." Li Mu shook his head and picked up the manuscript of "Introduction to D Bomb" by Master Qian Wu.

His time is really too tight now.

There is not much time to study every day, so I can only squeeze it into my sleeping time.

He hadn't even been to Master Qian Wu's place for a long time.

The development of the automated guidance system was temporarily shelved with the launch of the supercomputing project, and almost all available manpower was transferred to the Semiconductor Research Institute.

If he wants to continue his research, he can only work hard in this area himself.

……

The next day, Li Mu came to the Semiconductor Research Institute.

Just as we were getting ready to start a busy day, suddenly cheers erupted from the laboratory building.

This sound was like a thunder in the now dull semiconductor research institute, attracting everyone's attention.

He looked in the direction of the sound and found that it was coming from the direction of the distributed projection lithography machine.

"Could it be that the distributed projection lithography machine is successful?" Li Mu's eyes showed joy and he immediately hurried towards the laboratory.

If there is a breakthrough in lithography machines, the freed-up manpower will greatly ease the pressure on optical disk storage.

……

When they got upstairs, Yan Peilin and Wang Shoujue also hurried over.

Huang Xinhua walked out and saw the three of them. Thinking about the big commotion they had caused, a hint of embarrassment appeared on his face.

Before he could speak, Li Mu couldn't wait to ask, "Professor Huang, is the distributed projection lithography machine successful?"

Huang Xinhua's face became even more embarrassed after hearing this. He glared at Liu Ze and Wang Yang beside him, then said:
“Not yet, but there has been a new breakthrough in the objective lens system.”

"The latest lens experimental data is already very close to the lens requirements for distributed projection lithography machines."

“But it may take some time to complete.”

His words stunned everyone who were originally happy. They didn't expect such a misunderstanding to happen.

"That's great too. If we make a breakthrough in the lens, it will only be a matter of time before we solve the problem of the objective system." Li Mu said with a smile.

Yan Peilin and Wang Shoujue also said: "That's right. Although it is only a preliminary success, it is also very good. It is a great encouragement for our supercomputer research!"

Since the research on supercomputers began, problems have arisen one after another. In fact, it's not that no one doubts whether it can be done.

If Li Mu hadn't solved all these problems, someone would definitely raise objections.

But even so, some people are still worried.

If they can't even achieve that level of integration, then a lot of their research based on 100 million computing times per second will be useless.

Faced with everyone's praise, Huang Xinhua showed a slight smile on his face. He had been researching the distributed projection lithography machine for so long without success, so it was impossible to say that he had no pressure.

He thought for a moment, looked at Li Mu, and said:
"For follow-up research, I would like to ask you to participate more and speed up the development of distributed projection lithography machines."

“Although the lens problem has been almost solved, there are still many subsequent difficulties that need to be solved urgently.”

"The task of improving integration is imminent, and only you can greatly shorten this time."

Huang Xinhua looked at Li Mu with burning eyes.

Although it is a little hard to believe, in his heart, Li Mu's level in semiconductors has long surpassed his own.

Yan Peilin and Wang Shoujue on the side also looked at Li Mu.

But there was more worry in their eyes.

After all, Li Mu already has a lot of responsibilities now.

As chief designer and chief consultant, he did not need to solve so many technical details. He just needed to grasp the general direction and avoid any mistakes.

But he has always been at the forefront of research, and this spirit is extremely commendable.

But it's inevitable that people are worried about his physical condition.

"No problem." Li Mu nodded, and as no one expected, he agreed directly.

In the eyes of others, it requires a lot of energy, but he has the information downloaded from the National Supercomputing Research Center of the University of Illinois.

The groundwork had already been laid by Huang Xinhua and others, so all he had to do was come up with an idea on the spur of the moment.

It’s a pity that there is no information on the latest EUV lithography machine. That thing seems to be produced by a company in Helan, which is a leading company in the field of lithography machines in the world.

"It seems I have to find an opportunity to persuade Ask to go to Helan." Li Mu said to himself.

……

After a brief moment of joy, everyone quickly returned to their respective posts and started the experiment.

Li Mu also brought members of the distributed projection lithography machine development team to the conference room for a meeting.

Entering the conference room, everyone took their seats one by one.

Looking at Li Mu on the stage, many people couldn't help but straighten their backs and look at Li Mu with anticipation, waiting for him to give the next research direction.

They hadn't experienced this familiar feeling for a long time since the supercomputing project started.

"Everyone, please talk about the problem first, and also share your ideas." Li Mu stood on the stage, but he was not in a hurry to take out the information immediately.

Directly solving the problem can certainly greatly speed up the development of distributed projection lithography machines, but this kind of "copying" approach is actually quite disadvantageous to growing graduate students such as Liu Ze and Wang Yang.

When Huang Xinhua and other experts and professors saw what he did, they smiled and nodded, obviously approving it very much.

Seeing everyone looking at each other, all a little worried about losing face, he simply called out their names, "Liu Ze, Wang Yang, you two start."

"You are from the same school as Li Mu, and you are his seniors. Be alert and don't embarrass yourself." The two men, who had almost buried their heads under the table, trembled instantly after hearing this.

Although they were afraid, they straightened their chests when they heard Huang Xinhua say that they, like Li Mu, graduated from Beijing Institute of Technology.

It doesn’t matter how you say it, the key is not to lose face.

……

Two people started talking first, and the others following suit.

Li Mu encouraged and praised everyone's ideas and suggestions, and he even talked about some of the things that hit home.

After everyone had expressed their opinions, he smiled and said:

"After this discussion, everyone worked together and I think the experimental plan for the next objective lens is very clear."

"Arranged in order from the object to the image plane, it includes a first lens group with positive focal power, a second lens group with negative focal power, a third lens group with positive focal power, a fourth lens group with negative focal power, and a fifth lens group with positive focal power."

"This structural arrangement satisfies certain optical conditions, including the effective focal length f, the distance L from the object plane to the image plane, the difference R between the maximum diameters of the light beams emitted from each field of view at the aperture, and the maximum diameter R of the light beam emitted from the central field of view at the aperture."

"These conditions ensure the performance and image quality of the projection objective system, specifically 0.12<|L/F|<0.4 and R/R<1%..."

……

The people below were a little happy when they heard Li Mu say that everyone worked together to find the direction behind. Even Huang Xinhua wondered secretly that maybe the people under him suddenly got it?

As a result, after listening to what Li Mu said, it cannot be said that it is completely irrelevant, but it can only be said that it was not mentioned at all.

But they didn't have time to feel sad, they wrote quickly, trying to write down what Li Mu said.

There will certainly be setbacks, but they will never complain about themselves, let alone give up.

As for jealousy?

Totally impossible!
The more powerful Li Mu is, the happier they are. Having such a powerful person around will only make them more convinced that the prosperity and future of their motherland will surely be realized!

……

After Li Mu joined the distributed projection lithography machine development team, under his guidance, the research progress of the objective lens system moved forward rapidly.

The entire team worked overtime in the laboratory, and Huang Xinhua even lived directly in the Semiconductor Research Institute and did not go home for seven days.

The results did not disappoint their efforts.

A series of technical challenges such as high exposure resolution, low wave phase difference, rapid detection, and microenvironment control have been gradually solved.

The development of distributed projection lithography machines has also entered the final stage.

……

Inside the laboratory of the distributed projection lithography machine development team.

Under the gaze of everyone, the researchers assembled the final components and immediately announced the start of the lithography experiment.

The distributed projection lithography machine starts running. After photoresist is coated on the surface of the wafer, the exposure system starts working to project the pattern on the mask onto the wafer.

At the same time, the wafer begins moving in the opposite direction at one-fourth the speed.

Then comes the development stage, which dissolves the unexposed areas in the photoresist to reveal the silicon wafer underneath.

……

All the originally extremely complicated lithography processes can be completed with a distributed projection lithography machine!

But this is not the end.

Looking at Liu Ze and Wang Yang, who were holding the communication chips that had just been produced by the distributed projection lithography machine, Li Mu smiled.

Just from the appearance, this communication chip is more than 10 times smaller than the original communication chip.

And its level of integration is also quite exaggerated, reaching a terrifying 3!
However, there is still one last step to verify that the communication chip can operate normally, which is the real success.

Li Mu looked at Yan Peilin and Huang Xinhua beside him. They both smiled and signaled him with their eyes to continue giving orders.

He looked at Liu Ze and Wang Yang who were walking up to him with excitement, and said in a deep voice: "Start testing whether the chip is intact."

"Yes!" Liu Ze and Wang Yang's bodies shook at the same time, as if they were performing some kind of sacred ceremony, and put the communication chips in their hands into the testing equipment.

Not long after, as the detection signal light lit up with a "beep", a huge cheer broke out in the laboratory:
"Successful, finally successful!"

"It's done, it's done, our hard work has not been in vain!"

……

Everyone in the lab almost jumped for joy.

Yan Peilin waved his hand and said, "Today, there will be extra meals in the cafeteria. Everyone will have braised pork!"

Upon hearing the reward, the crowd cheered even louder.

In this day and age, being able to eat a meal of meat is a happy thing for anyone.

Huang Xinhua also smiled happily. His brows, which had been frowned for a very long time, finally relaxed completely for the first time.

"Congratulations, Professor Huang." Li Mu congratulated him.

Hearing this, Huang Xinhua waved his hand and said, "Thanks to your help, otherwise the distributed projection lithography machine would not have been made so quickly."

"You're not right. If it weren't for the early efforts of you and the entire research team, there would be no point for me to join in. So in this way, I'm still getting a bargain." Li Mu said with a smile.

His words made many people in the laboratory burst into laughter.

Yan Peilin joked: "You, you, those who know you will say you are being modest, but those who don't know will think you are being sarcastic."

"That's not what I meant." Li Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he suddenly realized what was going on.

His current status is different, and it would be strange if he was too humble.

"Okay, okay, let's not talk about this anymore. We all made contributions. Let's go to the cafeteria and have a celebration banquet!" Yan Peilin thought about pulling Li Mu and Huang Xinhua along and taking everyone to the cafeteria.

……

The news of the successful development of the distributed projection lithography machine soon spread to a small courtyard.

After listening to the secretary's report, the superior leader's face was full of joy, and he affirmed: "Everything is difficult at the beginning. With this good start, there is no need to worry about the development of supercomputers!"

"Please go to the Semiconductor Research Institute for me and tell him to be modest and cautious, and most importantly, take good care of his health."

"I will wait until the day when supercomputers are made, and then I will go to meet them."

……

In the cafeteria, researchers from the distributed projection lithography machine development team huddled together. Two large pots of fragrant braised pork were placed on the table, making people from other development teams drool.

"What are you waiting for? Eat!" Yan Peilin saw that no one else was eating, so he smiled and took a large piece of braised pork from the vegetable bowl and put it into the bowl.

With him taking the lead, everyone immediately relaxed and started eating the braised pork.

Two large pots of braised pork were half finished in a short while.

(End of this chapter)