The car giant started by marrying the daughter of the king

Chapter 444: Hidden dangers exposed, photolithography machine started
Many people in later generations have heard of the equipment called photolithography machine to some extent.

After all, the chip supply issue has caused many media to report a lot of related content.

But in 1988, at least 100 out of 99 Chinese people had never heard of the photolithography machine.

Not to mention ordinary people, even the gifted college students, as long as they are not in the relevant field, they don’t know that there is such a device in the world.

In the early 1980s, due to the rapid development of the global semiconductor industry, China actually launched a special lithography machine project.

At that time, relevant research institutes and factories of the Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Electronics Industry all participated in the project and developed the first generation of lithography machines that could meet the domestic demand for low-end chips.

However, the gap between these lithography machines and the international advanced level is still three generations, and there is no hope of catching up in the short term.

At the same time, as the relationship between the United States and China entered a honeymoon period, various lithography machines could basically be purchased internationally.

In addition, due to limited funds, the lithography machine project was officially discontinued in the past two years.

This is definitely a regrettable thing for Lingnan Semiconductor.

Both Zhang Shaohua and Jiang Hui knew about this.

After all, when I decided to enter the semiconductor industry, I had to understand some things in this field.

As a key processing equipment, the photolithography machine is naturally the focus of attention.

Otherwise, Zhang Shaohua and others would not have made purchasing lithography machines their top priority.

"Boss Jiang, it seems that all your concerns will slowly become reality."

"It's just that our first phase of the factory is still under construction, and the second phase of the factory has not been completed. If we start the construction of the third phase of the factory immediately, it seems that the risk is a bit too great."

"Should we consider continuing to communicate with relevant domestic research institutes to see if we can restart the research and development of lithography machines?"

Zhang Shaohua knew that Jiang Hui actually didn't like importing equipment from overseas, but there was no other way at this stage.

So when he saw that Jiang Hui fully acknowledged his concerns, he immediately put forward a new proposal.

"The Ministry of Electronics Industry and the Academy of Sciences have already discontinued the lithography machine project. It would be very difficult for them to start it again now."

"And their current technical level is still limited. I don't think we can put our hopes on them."

“It would be better to start from scratch and initiate a chip production equipment R&D project including lithography machines at Nanshan Equipment.”

"We must have the ability to produce key equipment such as lithography machines and etching machines ourselves."

"The relevant technical personnel can be recruited from the research institutes of the former Ministry of Electronics Industry."

Jiang Hui has always attached great importance to the development of the equipment industry, otherwise he would not have established Nanshan Equipment and promoted the establishment of an industrial equipment industrial park in Shenzhen.

In recent years, Nanshan Equipment has developed very rapidly and has initially acquired certain strength.

Taking this opportunity, it is a good time to officially enter the field of equipment such as lithography machines.

Although there is still a big gap between domestic lithography machine technology and the international advanced level, this gap is still relatively small compared with later generations.

After all, the international lithography machines have only made significant progress in the last decade or so.

China has already mastered the old technology from more than a decade ago.

Considering that the international community has not yet taken some measures against China in terms of high-end equipment, Nanshan Equipment, as a port city enterprise, still has the opportunity to obtain some information from the international community.

If all else fails, we will first carry out a round of localization work on the lithography machines purchased from ASML.

After domestically produced equipment is developed, we will develop a new generation of products based on it.

Although this will cause Nanshan Equipment's lithography machines to lag behind the international advanced level by several years, it is completely acceptable.

In the next ten years, Nanshan Equipment and Lingnan Semiconductor will just need to keep up with the development pace of the international semiconductor industry. It doesn't matter if they cannot surpass it.

After all, China’s various chip demands basically do not require the use of the most advanced lithography machines and can be achieved.

For example, the lithography machines currently purchased from ASML, if historical development were normal, would not see a major wave of technological advancement until the mid-1990s.

This gives Nanshan Equipment some time to catch up.

"It would be best if Nanshan Equipment could directly launch the lithography machine project."

"It is better to rely on ourselves than on others. Our group has sufficient R&D funds and can attract a large number of talents to join the R&D team."

"We can even set up a branch in Hong Kong to attract international talents to join us."

Zhang Shaohua boldly put forward a new suggestion.

He knew that in the field of lithography machines, there was still a big gap between the domestic level and the international advanced level.

However, it is actually quite difficult to invite high-end international talents to work in Shenzhen.

If you just go to Hong Kong City, it will be different.

"First, mobilize your colleagues in the company and find a way to poach the people who were on the lithography project team."

"As long as they are skilled talents, the salary can be negotiated."

"At worst, their current salary and benefits can be doubled."

If you want to recruit people from within the system, you definitely have to put in the effort.

Even though the BMW Group is now the largest foreign-invested enterprise in the country, it is not easy to get people who are used to working within the system to step out of their comfort zone.

Of course, the situation might be better for technical talents who truly love the research of lithography equipment.

"I will hold an internal meeting later to discuss the lithography machine project."

"Let everyone mobilize their own personal connections to recruit people."

"Then I will communicate this situation with Nanshan Equipment."

Zhang Shaohua naturally fully supported Jiang Hui's idea.

Soon, Nanshan Equipment and Lingnan Semiconductor started to move.

In order to ensure the implementation of this project, Jiang Hui flew back to the capital to report to his father-in-law.

After all, the Ministry of Electronics Industry has now been incorporated into the Ministry of Machinery and Electronics Industry and is under the jurisdiction of my father-in-law.

"The decision to cancel the lithography project must have been made after sufficient discussion."

"In addition to funding issues, the huge technology gap is also a big problem."

"The lithography machines purchased by Lingnan Semiconductor Phase II Factory are the most advanced products currently produced by ASML."

"Even if you do localization work based on this equipment, it will probably be very challenging."

It’s not that Zhu Jiansheng does not support Nanshan Equipment’s development of lithography machines.

There is no scientific research institution in the country that specializes in this field. He was so happy that Nanshan Equipment was willing to take on the challenge.

But he was also worried that his son-in-law would fall into the pit.

“I had anticipated this situation.”

"But to develop the semiconductor industry, we must have the ability to domestically produce core equipment such as lithography machines."

"Otherwise, we will suffer huge losses in the future, and there will be no way for our semiconductor industry to become world-class."

"If we don't start now, and wait a dozen years, the technology gap will be even greater and the difficulty will be higher."

Jiang Hui expressed his thoughts very directly.

Although he couldn't say that the international community would not sell advanced lithography equipment to Chinese companies in the next two years, it is still relatively easy for everyone to understand if he explains it from the perspective of industrial development.

After all, if Lingnan Semiconductor poses a threat to international semiconductor giants in the future, the other party will definitely take various measures to suppress Lingnan Semiconductor.

Preventing your factory from upgrading its equipment in a timely manner is one of the good ways.

"If you are determined to do it, the ministry will definitely support you fully."

"I will ask my secretary to arrange for someone to compile a contact list of the relevant units and main persons in charge of the original lithography machine project."

"You can directly arrange someone to contact them."

"If necessary, the ministry can even arrange people to do ideological work."

Without Jiang Hui saying much, Zhu Jiansheng also knew what Nanshan Equipment would do next.

Now no one in the company understands lithography machines, and it would be too difficult to start from scratch.

Recruiting a group of industry insiders is a must.

Even if these people's technical level is not up to the international level, at least they are all experts.

"It would be best if there was a list."

"At that time, we also want to buy the technology and data from some factories that we have studied in the past."

"To avoid technical disputes or data loss disputes."

Although Jiang Hui was planning to poach people from within the system, he did not intend to take advantage of them.

Those outdated information are actually worthless.

It would be best if you could just show some consideration and clean up all the tails.

"That's fine too."

"However, some people are used to life in the system, and it may be difficult for them to accept the sudden decision to work in a company."

"I think you can talk to Capital University of Technology and set up a major related to semiconductor technology and chip equipment in their Shenzhen University."

“And set up a special research institute.”

"In this case, some scientific researchers in the Academy of Sciences and the Ministry will not want to leave the system."

"The ministry can help transfer them to the Capital University of Technology Shenzhen Branch to work."

"This will also allow them to fully participate in the development of your lithography machine project and promote the improvement of the school's strength."

When Zhu Jiansheng said this, Jiang Hui's eyes immediately lit up.

Ginger is still old and spicy.

With such an auxiliary means at hand, when you are trying to recruit people next time, you basically don’t have to worry about not being able to recruit them.

"I'll go talk to the school right away."

"Nanshan Equipment and Lingnan Semiconductor will provide manpower, materials and supplies, and the school will provide staffing and other related things. We will both thoroughly develop semiconductor technology and equipment research and development."

"In the future, perhaps with its strong influence in these two fields, the Shenzhen branch will become one of the top universities in the country."

Jiang Hui is very optimistic about the prospects of the semiconductor industry. As long as it is done well, there will be endless benefits.

This will drive the rapid development of a series of disciplines such as materials science, physics, chemistry, optics, and microelectronics.

And by then, the teachers and students at the Shenzhen branch will be exposed to the most cutting-edge technologies in the industry.

Unlike some universities, which always teach technology that is outdated and it is unknown when the textbooks were written.

When Jiang Hui was in college, he originally studied vehicle engineering.

However, in the book "Automobile Structure", when it comes to teaching the gearbox, all the information is about manual gearbox, and automatic gearbox is skipped directly.

There is very little content on automatic transmissions in the textbooks, and the information is very old.

I have also been analyzing some gearboxes of Santana and Jetta.

However, at that time, most of the mainstream car models on the market were equipped with automatic transmissions, and manual transmissions were becoming increasingly rare.

The contents of other modules are naturally similar.

Even at that time, textbooks were still teaching people about carburetors, but this thing had already been completely eliminated from the market.

There are naturally many reasons for this situation.

However, from the conclusion, it is a common objective fact that the various things that domestic universities teach students are generally not in line with the cutting-edge technologies in the industry.

……

"Mr. Jiang, I heard that Nanshan Equipment and Lingnan Semiconductor are discussing the establishment of semiconductor-related majors and research institutions with Capital University of Technology Shenzhen Branch."

"We at Shenzhen University are also very interested in relevant scientific research in the semiconductor industry."

"If there are teachers or research institutes from other scientific research institutions in China who are willing to develop in Shenzhen University, we would also welcome them very much."

As the president of Shenzhen University, Zhang Wei previously served as the vice president of Yenching University, so he naturally has a good vision.

In the past, when Lingnan Semiconductor and Nanshan Equipment did not mention the need to cooperate with universities, he was not in a hurry to approach them to discuss cooperation between the two parties.

Now that action has been taken, he naturally doesn't want to fall behind.

"That's really great."

"We are not only entering into chip production now, but are also preparing to enter into the research of chip production equipment on a large scale."

"In order to improve our technology as quickly as possible, we will need thousands, or even tens of thousands, of R&D personnel in the future."

Shenzhen University is willing to invest resources in this area, so Jiang Hui naturally has no reason to object.

This is a good thing for him.

Of course, in the process of cooperation with Shenzhen University, Lingnan Semiconductor and Nanshan Equipment will definitely need to pay some research funds.

This is also the reason why the other party attaches great importance to the cooperation between the two parties.

However, compared with one's own R&D projects, the investment funds for R&D projects in cooperation with universities will definitely be cheaper, not more expensive.

Teachers are already paid by the school, but students don’t need to be paid, so a little subsidy is good enough.

Therefore, the human resource cost is almost negligible.

If you provide some appropriate subsidies, people will be very happy.

Of course, this time we are recruiting people from all over the place, and in order to increase attractiveness, we must increase the subsidies.

But that doesn't cost much.

"The Department of Physics at Yenching University has conducted in-depth research in semiconductors and has been making plans in this area for a long time."

"When the time comes, we will cooperate with Yenching University to carry out relevant scientific research as soon as possible."

Zhang Wei knew that this business was not a business at all.

In order to prevent Shenzhen University from being too passive in its cooperation with Lingnan Semiconductor and Nanshan Equipment, he still wanted to demonstrate his efforts and strength.

As the former vice president of Yenching University, he can still leverage cooperation between the two parties.

……

"Yiming, go and connect with Lingnan Semiconductor and Nanshan Equipment to see if there is anything we can do to help them with the development of lithography machines."

After Liu Tianwu learned that Lingnan Semiconductor and Nanshan Equipment were working together to develop lithography machines, he immediately asked Yao Yiming to assist in implementing related matters.

In terms of technology, Shenzhen City cannot provide any help.

However, Shenzhen City can definitely assist in matters related to various logistical procedures.

He even thought about taking this opportunity to set up a state-owned research institute in Shenzhen to assist in receiving some technical personnel.

It also shows Shenzhen's support for the development of the semiconductor industry.

"No problem, I have been communicating with them these days."

"At present, Lingnan Semiconductor and Nanshan Equipment are mainly trying to poach people from the Academy of Sciences and the lithography-related research institutes under the former Ministry of Electronics Industry."

"Some of these people will directly join Lingnan Semiconductor or Nanshan Equipment, some will join Shenzhen University, and some will go to Capital University of Technology Shenzhen Branch."

"Through these methods, the needs of different people can be fully met."

"But from what I've heard, most people go to Lingnan Semiconductor or Nanshan Equipment."

"After all, once you get there, your salary will increase significantly, and you can be sure to get a house later."

"If you are a core technical staff or manager, you may have the opportunity to be provided with a car."

"Even the work arrangements of family members can be taken care of at the same time."

"From spouses, children, and even brothers and sisters' related needs, as long as they are not too outrageous, BMW Group will coordinate them uniformly."

"This move is still very lethal."

Yao Yiming is so concerned about the actions of the BMW Group and the movements of Lingnan Semiconductor and Nanshan Equipment. It is impossible that Liu Tianwu already knows about it, but he has not made any moves yet.

"It seems that President Jiang has made up his mind to vigorously develop the semiconductor industry this time."

"I heard that Lingnan Semiconductor's equipment purchase amount for the second phase of the factory has exceeded 1 million US dollars."

"This is one of the largest investment projects in the country this year."

Liu Tianwu didn't quite understand Jiang Hui's operation, but it did not affect his full support for Jiang Hui to do so.

After all, these practices are good news for Shenzhen.

Even if you beg for help from everyone else, you may not be able to get such a big project in a whole year.

We didn't do anything in Shanghai, but big projects came to us one after another.

No wonder that in recent years many young cadres from ministries and Lingnan Province have wanted to be transferred to Shenzhen.

Similarly, many people in Shenzhen were promoted to work in Lingnan Province or ministries.

This is definitely the best place to gild in the country.

"This year, Land Rover's Highlander model has been selling very well, and the previous models are also performing normally."

"It is estimated that the financial situation of the BMW Group will be better than last year, and the pressure on investment will not be so great."

When Yao Yiming said this, Liu Tianwu suddenly thought of a piece of news he had heard, "BMW Group's financial situation is very good. I completely believe it."

"But I also heard a rumor recently that the BMW branch in Polar Bear purchased a large amount of equipment and raw materials from the local area with loans."

"This loan amount is very large, I'm afraid it has added up to more than $1 million."

"If you have the chance, see if you can find out what the story behind this incident is."

“I always feel that it’s a bit strange.”

When something goes wrong, there must be a monster.

Combining his own life experience, Liu Tianwu saw the miraculous operation of BMW cars on polar bears.

Although they were not short of money, they still took out large loans locally to purchase equipment and raw materials.

There must be something behind this that I don’t understand.

"Well, I also know something about BMW's large-scale establishment of branches in Polar Bear to expand its business."

"I'll have dinner with Chen Chenxing, who is in charge of sales, and see if I can get some useful information."

Since the leader has given an order, Yao Yiming will naturally implement it immediately.

As for how far we can ultimately achieve this, that is another question.

……

Most international semiconductor giants are not particularly concerned about the developments of Lingnan Semiconductor.

In other words, related companies in Asia will pay more attention to it.

However, TSMC is an exception.

Because Lingnan Semiconductor is currently the only manufacturer in the world that is also preparing to start chip foundry business like them.

This means that in the field of chip foundry, TSMC’s only competitor now is Lingnan Semiconductor.

Other semiconductor giants such as Texas Instruments, Intel, and AMD are all potential customers of TSMC.

After all, these companies now not only design their own chips, but also produce their own chips.

The semiconductor industry has been iterating very rapidly in recent years, and they must have suffered a lot from the continuous investment in new factories and new technologies.

Therefore, there will definitely be people who are interested in giving up investing in semiconductor factories and instead outsourcing the production of part of the chips to professional foundry manufacturers.

Especially for listed companies, this kind of thing of improving capital utilization efficiency and reducing the company's debt ratio is absolutely supported.

"Mr. Zhang, the people we arranged in Hongcheng recently heard a piece of news in Shenzhen. It seems that Lingnan Semiconductor is cooperating with Nanshan Equipment and wants to develop its own lithography machine."

"I think this information is definitely not good news for lithography equipment manufacturers such as ASML, Canon and Nikon."

Zeng Fanchen came to Zhang Zhong's office with great interest and reported a rather special piece of information.

As Lingnan Semiconductor is actively introducing 5-inch wafer equipment and 1.8-micron process chip equipment, TSMC is now paying close attention to their movements.

The company even arranged special personnel to keep an eye on Lingnan Semiconductor and try to find out more internal information.

Naturally, these efforts have yielded some results.

(End of this chapter)