Courtyard House: A Major Power's Heavy Industry, Hand-Crafted Nuclear Fusion

Base 001, Workshop 701 (underground).

The joy of that initial success did not last long.

As the 3-micron wafer was fed into the packaging and testing station, Su Zheng looked at the fluctuating waveform on the oscilloscope, his brows furrowing even more deeply.

"no."

Su Zheng threw the test report on the table, his voice muffled. "The waveform jitter is too great. It might be okay for controlling a radio or an electric fan, but for the ECU of 'Red Star-1,' or even for missile fire control in the future, this level of precision... could kill people."

Old Chen and several experts from various ministries looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Minister Su, this is already a miracle."

An experienced expert cautiously remarked, "We used a hand-cranked device and a modified furnace to create a 3-micron wafer. If word got out, it would be enough to win the National Science and Technology Progress Award (Special Prize). Perhaps... we're setting our expectations too high?"

"If it's for winning awards, then it's certainly enough."

Su Zheng raised his head, his gaze sharp as an eagle's. "But who are our competitors? Intel, Texas Instruments, and the entire Western semiconductor alliance! Their current mass production level is already 1.5 micrometers, and they're even working on 1 micrometer in their labs. Our 3-micrometer... in their eyes, is just a joke."

He pointed to the rudimentary lithography machine:

"The core problem lies in the lens. The numerical aperture of this lens assembly is insufficient, resulting in excessive edge aberrations. During photolithography, circuits that should have been straight lines become curved at the edges. This is the fundamental reason for the low yield rate and unstable performance."

"But..." Old Chen looked troubled. "Master Liu from Yunguang Factory has already done his best. He spent a whole month grinding this lens, wasting more than a dozen blanks. To improve the precision further... that's something even a god couldn't do."

There are no gods.

Su Zheng stood up, took off his grease-stained protective suit, and said, "Since the machine can't do it, then let's have someone do it. Since one Master Liu isn't enough, then we'll bring in the best 'eyes' and 'hands' from all over China."

He turned to look at Ye Xinyi:

"Xinyi, can you help me find out where those old masters who ground the periscope lenses for the navy submarines are now?"

Ye Xinyi adjusted her glasses and, without flipping through her notebook, directly recited the data:

"They're all retiring at Yunguang Factory. However, the oldest, Mr. Zhang, is over seventy, and his hands might..."

"As long as my eyes aren't blind, as long as I'm still breathing."

Su Zheng interrupted her, "Prepare the car. No, request a helicopter. I need to go to Yunguang Factory myself."

……

Deep in the mountains of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau.

In the old factory buildings of Yunguang Factory (Yunnan Optical Instrument Factory), there is a faint smell of kerosene and the aroma of grinding paste.

This is the holy land of Chinese optics. From telescopes during the War of Resistance against Japan to microscopes and theodolites later on, the "eyes" of countless important national instruments all originated from here.

When Su Zheng entered the advanced grinding workshop known as the "forbidden zone," several elderly people with gray hair were sitting around a huge granite workbench, drinking tea and chatting.

Upon seeing Su Zheng enter, the thin, elderly man at the head of the group put down his teacup.

His name is Zhang Benchu, a "hidden master" in the Chinese optics world. Legend has it that when he was young, he could detect an error of 0.1 micrometers on a lens by touch.

"Minister Su?"

Old Master Zhang had clearly heard of Su Zheng's reputation. "I heard you made a big splash in the Northwest, even borrowing our factory's prized apprentice, Liu, to grind glass?"

"Old Zhang."

Su Zheng bowed respectfully. "I've come this time to ask you to come out of retirement."

"Coming down from the mountains?"

Grandpa Zhang laughed, stretching out his hands, calloused and covered in age spots. "At my age, my hands have been shaking for ages. This is the age of machines. I've heard that they use laser interferometers for testing abroad. Our old crafts should probably end up in a museum."

"The machine is indeed amazing."

Su Zheng walked to the workbench, took out the lithography film of the 3-micron chip from his pocket, and then took out a drawing.

That was the design drawing of the high-end lithography camera lens assembly that Nikon will be launching next year, which he reproduced using his "eye of truth".

"But machines are man-made."

Su Zheng spread out the blueprints. "We can't buy machines from abroad. As for domestic machines... they're still lacking in precision. Only you can help me fill that gap."

Grandpa Zhang squinted as he looked at the blueprint.

As he watched, his expression changed.

His previously cloudy eyes suddenly became incredibly clear, like two beams of light.

"Who...who designed this?"

With trembling hands, Grandpa Zhang pointed to a set of aspherical lenses on the blueprints. "This curvature...this aberration correction structure...this is simply divine craftsmanship! If this were ground up, what would the resolution be?"

"1 micrometer. Even... 0.8 micrometers," Su Zheng said calmly.

"0.8 micrometers..."

Grandpa Zhang took a deep breath. That was on the order of light wavelength. It was like dancing on a knife's edge.

"The blueprints are good blueprints."

Grandpa Zhang sighed, "But this final polishing step requires the surface shape error to be no more than one-thousandth the thickness of a hair. The machine can't do it, and I... I'm not sure either."

"I have."

Su Zheng pointed to his eyes, "I can see the errors you can't. I'll help you steady your shaky hands. Shall we team up and see how we compare to those foreigners' machines?"

Grandpa Zhang stared at Su Zheng for a long time.

Suddenly, he slammed his hand on the table, causing the water in the teacup to slosh around.

"good!"

The old man's weariness vanished, replaced by a master's arrogance. "Damn it all! Foreigners are blockading us? I've been grinding glass my whole life, I refuse to believe I can't grind my way to success! Let's get to work!"

……

For the next two weeks, the top-secret workshop at Yunguang Factory became a city that never sleeps.

Su Zheng, Grandpa Zhang, and three other top masters locked themselves inside.

No precision interferometer?

It's alright. Su Zheng's "Eye of Truth" is activated. In his vision, the surface of the quartz glass being ground is no longer a smooth plane, but has turned into undulating mountains and ravines.

Every towering "peak" and every low-lying "valley" is clearly visible.

"Old Zhang, the top left corner, at the two o'clock position, is 30 nanometers higher," Su Zheng said softly.

30 nanometers.

That's a fraction of the length of a bacterium.

Grandpa Zhang closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and gently lowered the polishing disc in his hand.

His movements were as gentle as if he were caressing a lover's face. The asphalt polishing disc, coated with red iron oxide abrasive, traced mysterious lines on the glass surface.

rustling... rustling...

That was the sound of cutting at the nanometer level.

"Alright," Old Master Zhang stopped.

Su Zheng looked closely.

The "mountain" was leveled and turned into a plain.

"Incredible skill!" Su Zheng couldn't help but exclaim.

This is not a technique, this is the way.

It's a chemical reaction resulting from the combination of the feel accumulated over decades and superhuman visual assistance.

The old man and the young man worked together perfectly.

Su Zheng is the "eye," and Grandpa Zhang is the "hand." In the microscopic world, they are engaged in a breathtaking "nano-dance."

On the third day, the first set of convex lenses was completed.

On the seventh day, the lens correction was completed.

On the fourteenth day, the most difficult aspherical primary mirror finally lay on the velvet cloth of the ultra-clean table.

It is crystal clear and shows no reflection under the shadowless light, as if it were a pool of solidified air.

"This is... the perfect lens."

Grandpa Zhang slumped in his chair, covered in sweat, his hands trembling slightly, but a childlike smile on his face. "This life... has been worthwhile."

……

When this "human lithography machine lens assembly" was transported back to Base 001 and installed on the new machine codenamed "lithography-02".

The entire 701 workshop was in an uproar.

This time, it no longer has that crude, piecemeal feel of the past.

After half a month of improvements, this machine has acquired a certain imposing presence befitting a heavy industrial machine. It boasts a robust cast iron base, precise lead screw transmission, and, most notably, the "crown jewel"—a top-of-the-line lens assembly.

"Xinyi, is the photoresist ready?" Su Zheng asked.

"Ready."

Ye Xinyi pointed to the constant temperature chamber next to her, "This is a new type of photoresist extracted and modified from poplar resin, codenamed 'Desert Red'. After these few days of testing, its resolution is even higher than that of imported products."

"it is good."

Su Zheng took a deep breath. "Start the film!"

A brand new 4-inch silicon wafer is fed into the machine.

Align.

exposure.

development.

This time, the process went exceptionally smoothly.

When the developer faded, revealing the circuit pattern underneath, Su Zheng didn't need a microscope; he knew from intuition alone that it was done.

Under a microscope.

The lines were as sharp as if cut by a knife or axe, and the edges were as neat as rows of soldiers on parade.

"Line width..."

The technician in charge of the testing had a trembling voice, "0.9 micrometers! And... and the edge roughness of the lines is extremely low!"

"0.9 micrometers!"

Old Chen slapped his thigh. "My goodness! This has surpassed the 1-micron mark, which we never even dared to dream of before! This... this was really rubbed together by hand?"

"It was hand-rubbed."

Su Zheng looked at the image under the microscope, a hint of weariness flashing in his eyes, but even more so, pride. "But these are not ordinary hands. These are the hands of Chinese craftsmen, the soul of Chinese scientists."

He straightened up and looked around at the excited crowd:

"Comrades, although we have achieved 0.9 micrometers, this is only the first step. This machine is 'special equipment,' relying on the unique skills of Elder Zhang and his team, and cannot be mass-produced."

The crowd's enthusiasm cooled slightly. Indeed, could they possibly work on a hundred sets of works by someone as renowned as Grandpa Zhang, a national treasure?

"but."

Su Zheng then changed the subject, "With this master lens and this 0.9-micron precision, we can manufacture higher-precision grating rulers and more precise servo motors. We can then use this 'hand-operated machine' to produce the parts needed for the 'next-generation lithography machine'!"

"This is the mother machine nature of industry!"

Su Zheng's voice echoed in the workshop, "We used our hands to knead the first generation, then used the first generation to produce the second generation, and the second generation to produce the third generation... This is what we call 'endless generations'!"

"Foreigners are blockading us? Fine."

Su Zheng picked up the wafer and held it up to the light; it shimmered with an iridescent sheen. "Let them see how we climbed to the top of industry step by step, even under blockade!"

"Minister Su!"

Just then, a confidential secretary rushed in, "Urgent telegram from Beijing! A message forwarded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

"read."

"The United States... just announced that it has included 'low-end electronic toys' and 'game console chips,' which were previously not on the COCOM embargo list, in its review scope. The reason given is... suspicion that we obtain technology by dismantling toy chips."

Upon hearing the news, the workshop fell silent for a moment, then burst into laughter.

"Disassembling toy chips?" Old Chen laughed until tears streamed down his face. "Are they genuinely unaware, or are they pretending? With our current technology, do we even need to disassemble their toys?"

Su Zheng smiled too.

"It seems they're really in a hurry."

Su Zheng waved his hand, "Since they think so highly of us, we can't let them down."

He walked over to Ye Xinyi and looked at the notebook in her hand that was already filled with code.

"I've got my eye on it. Now, it's time to infuse this brain with a soul."

"That plan about the 'handheld game console'..." A playful glint flashed in Su Zheng's eyes, "It's ready to go. Since they won't sell us chips, we'll sell our chips to their backyard!"

"Let their children grow up playing our games and using our chips."

"This is what true cultural export should be."

Ye Xinyi closed her notebook, a faint smile appearing on her cool face:

"The code is complete. Tetris... is ready to launch at any time."

……