Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 403 No one looks like they're about to die!

The inverter took longer to build than the main motor, not entirely because it was more technically demanding, but also because he would occasionally stop to discuss it with others.

This discussion slowed down our work, but it was all worthwhile.

It took Zhai Dacai a full four hours to seal and secure the inverter, and then he had people move the main components of the motor to the site for assembly.

This silicon carbide motor was decided to be born in this laboratory.

There's no need for Zhai Da to assemble the motors; it's unnecessary for the emperor to personally lead such a small task. It's a waste to give so much salary to all the officials.

Qi Lin took the lead, Zhou Mo assisted, and Xu Xuejun stood and talked, letting them do it themselves.

Zhai Da leaned against the edge, holding a bottle of cola, and looked at the decent-looking motor, feeling quite pleased with it.

In terms of structural layout, the hypothetical application scenario for this motor is automobiles.

Because it had a clear plan in mind, this prototype was not as hastily made as many trial products; instead, it had a complete structural plan and even took into account its aesthetics.

(Conceptual diagram; the flat square at the top represents the inverter section, but the actual unit is not so neat.)
Although I know that the technical content isn't in the shell, good looks are everything, right?
Being more handsome can generate more buzz and build more trust in technology, and also amplify the voice of industrial development.

Because of her small stature, Ge Qiaoqiao didn't go to the front. After the equipment started to be assembled, she could only see the shell when she stood by the table. So Zhai Da stood on the edge to observe, holding a large water bottle that emitted bursts of hot air when opened.

Zhai Da casually remarked, "Black tea? How elegant."

Ge Qiaoqiao shook her head: "Brown sugar and ginger water, a functional drink!"

Zhai Da stopped asking questions; the topic could be dropped here.

But a rather rude idiom popped into my head: "Though the sparrow is small, it has all the vital organs."
Ge Qiaoqiao asked, "President, will we hold a press conference when we successfully develop it? Like Hongtu OS?"

Zhai Da shook his head: "No, this is a B2B product, which is aimed at enterprise users. The press conference is mostly for the public. I estimate that 90% of people don't even know what a motor looks like, let alone silicon carbide."

"If it is appropriate, I may invite a small number of companies to learn about the situation, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology."

Ge Qiaoqiao said with some regret, "I was hoping for a grand event like Hongtu, where I could see another magic show. But after that, will anyone buy our stuff?"

Although she was involved in the creation of silicon carbide motors from scratch, she knew no more about the business aspects than anyone else.

Zhai Da pondered how to explain to her, and after a moment said, "Compared to Hongtu OS, silicon carbide technology will be much slower to generate profits, and the investment will be much larger. This is the difference between industry and service. To be honest, it's not very appealing for entrepreneurs."

"Even just setting up a factory for initial mass production will cost at least 100 million. If you have some ambition, 300 to 500 million is not too much, and you can spend more than 1 billion."

Ge Qiaoqiao clicked her tongue in surprise: "Does that research institute have that much money?"

Zhai Da chuckled and snapped his fingers:
"no!"

Ge Qiaoqiao:
Am I not as proud as you?

Although Hongtu's profitability is gradually increasing and its monthly revenue has reached tens of millions, it is still far from sufficient.

Let alone Hongtu, even adding Yueda Catering and his writer's treasury would be a struggle.

This is semiconductor.

One of the pinnacles of human manufacturing over the past few decades, the pinnacle of industry, it is not so easy to get started.

Ge Qiaoqiao looked hesitant until Zhai Da added, "But it's not necessary!"

"Precisely because manufacturing is more difficult and cumbersome, the country provides greater support to the corresponding fields. Money is just a tool when doing business, so leave this aspect to me."

"Oh...I see!"

Actually, Ge Qiaoqiao only heard the sound and didn't understand much.

Zhai Da comforted us, saying, "Don't worry about that for now. We still have a lot of problems to solve before mass production. Let's take it one step at a time."

"for example?"

Zhai Da snapped his fingers again: "For example, the yield rate is too low." Even if we don't consider the motor part and only look at the semiconductor.

A qualified product also means that, provided the substrate itself is of reliable quality, the epitaxy, photolithography, ion implantation, gate oxide deposition, dicing, and packaging processes have all met the ideal requirements.

For products like semiconductors with complex manufacturing processes, yield is extremely important, as it represents cost, efficiency, and output, but the calculation method is "cumulative multiplication".

For example, if there are ten processes and the yield of each process is 90%, it looks pretty good, right?

But the final yield rate is 90% to the power of 10, which is a pitiful 34.8%.

Generally speaking, the semiconductor industry needs an overall yield rate of over 50% to be worthwhile for industrial production. For example, their substrate supplier, Infineon, only has a yield rate of around 60%.

Only when the yield rate reaches 70% or higher can large-scale mass production be achieved.

Only when the accuracy rate is above 90% can it be called a "mature process".

The reason why silicon carbide third-generation semiconductors have failed to shine in the market for more than a decade is largely due to low yield rates. Even Infineon (their substrate supplier), a global leader, has not fared well.

Can you make money? Yes, brother, it's high-tech, isn't it? A single base layer costs tens of thousands of yuan, and a set of equipment costs tens of millions of yuan, so of course you can make money.

But can it be mass-produced? Can it be widely applied? Can it empower industries? None of the above.

Currently, the silicon carbide project team, relying on the talents of its members, has achieved a yield rate of around 70% after a period of learning (the terrible TEL equipment dragged it down considerably).

However, this is only laboratory-level preparation; when it is mass-produced, it will be operated by workers and the quality will be reduced.

"Yield rate can't be achieved just by buying equipment. You have to spend real money to conduct experiments. Before mass production, you need to optimize the process and procedures as much as possible. Of course, equipment optimization is also very important. Only after that can you start production. But don't worry, I have connections!"

When the topic came up, Zhai Da suddenly had a brilliant idea. He went out for a short while and returned about ten minutes later with a camera in his hand.

"I was lucky; there were people in the research institute who liked photography, and I was thinking of using my phone to take pictures if I couldn't borrow one."

Zhai Da used a tripod to set up his camera in a corner of the laboratory, which allowed him to capture the busy group of people without revealing any technical details.

Record a video to commemorate the occasion and keep a record.

So that others would know that he wasn't like "Hanxin" which just wore off a layer of trademark!
Having an extra camera didn't cause any trouble for the work; it even recorded Xu Xuejun's cursing and swearing commands.

The assembly process took about an hour. Zhai Da even did some welding in the middle. In the future, this kind of process will definitely be more efficient using one-piece molding technology, but the prototype will not be so particular.

It was already 9 p.m., but there was still a lot of work to be done before the prototype's first run.

After completing his regular duties, Cheng Mo, the CFO of Hongtu, turned around and continued working overtime at the silicon carbide project team.

Several cables extended from the motor interface; the thicker ones connected to the power supply, while the thinner ones were connected to Cheng Mo's laptop.

He designed the basic electrical control program for the silicon carbide project. Of course, more importantly, the prototype trial run is not just about hearing a sound; it also requires data collection. Speed, frequency, power, temperature, and voltage all need to be monitored in real time and archived so that they can be gradually optimized later.

This work took a long time to debug, and with repeated checks and corrections, time was unknowingly moving towards 11.

Finally, after more than ten hours of intensive work, the first prototype of the "silicon carbide motor" was successfully placed on the table in the middle.

Everyone was quite tired, but also very anxious.

Qi Lin swallowed hard. "Should I check it again? Just in case something goes wrong and it explodes?"

Xu Xuejun scoffed: "With the strength of this shell, if there's a problem, it'll just bulge, not explode."

Sun Ting was unhappy that her boyfriend was being criticized: "It was just a metaphor. Qi Lin designed the product, how could he not know that?"

Newcomer Zhou Mo smoothed things over, saying, "Being careful is never a bad thing; it's all well-intentioned."

Ge Qiaoqiao raised her hand and said, "Don't worry, none of you look 'dead' today!"

(End of this chapter)