Chapter 98 World-leading chip manufacturing process
"We finally succeeded. It was not easy!"
In the laboratory.
As the photoresist was prepared, excited shouts suddenly erupted in the room.
However, when Xu Lei faced his assistant's performance, he did not show any joy on his face. Instead, he said to him in a deep voice: "It is still too early to say it will be successful. It needs to be applied to the wafer for actual testing."
Sure."
In fact, he was quite confident about this experiment, and the prepared photoresist should be able to meet his requirements.
It is only out of scientific rigor that I behave calmly.
Hear the sound.
The assistant quickly calmed down.
After he got his emotions under control, he apologized with some embarrassment: "I'm sorry Xugong, I was so happy that I forgot about this."
"It doesn't matter."
For Xu Lei, this was just a minor incident, so naturally he didn't take it to heart. After spitting out these three words, he immediately said: "Dean Yang and Mr. Hao are still waiting for our news.
Put on the prepared photoresist tape and let’s hurry over.”
"This will be the best New Year's gift."
The words just fell.
The body has already stepped out of the laboratory.
"It's XCMG."
The remaining assistants naturally did not dare to hesitate in the face of this explanation. They nodded quickly and began to pack up the photoresist on the workbench.
Even though they were all young men, their palms were trembling uncontrollably at this time.
After all, they have worked hard to prepare this photoresist. It is about to be tested and it has become an indispensable part of the top domestic photolithography machine. The heart is beating rapidly as if it were turned on at full power.
According to normal conditions.
Because today happens to be New Year's Eve.
Even scientific researchers will return home to spend time with their families and enjoy this annual traditional festival.
But after learning that the photoresist would be prepared today, none of the many project research members, including Yang Senping and Hao Yaoping, chose to go home for the holidays.
Everyone stayed in the hospital late at night waiting for Xu Lei's research results.
Being able to see high-end chips produced by their own photolithography machines with their own eyes is absolutely extraordinary for them.
Not long after.
When Xu Lei arrived at the area where the assembled top-level photolithography machine was, he immediately saw a group of people quickly surrounding him, with looks of anticipation on their faces.
"How's it going? Was it successful?"
"There should be no problem, but the specific effect still needs to be tested in practice." Looking at Yang Senping's familiar face that almost occupied most of his field of vision, Xu Lei did not deliberately show off, and directly and truthfully briefly explained the actual situation.
The assistant who came behind him with the photoresist immediately echoed: "Dean, the prepared photoresist is here."
"good."
"OK."
“It’s really great.”
After getting the exact answer from Xu Lei, Yang Senping's hanging heart finally fell to the ground. After saying "good" three times in a row, he immediately issued the order for the test.
"Let's start testing. Let's all have a special New Year's Eve together tonight."
"I didn't expect that my old bones would still be so passionate. It's really not easy." In this atmosphere, Hao Yaoping couldn't help but sigh.
The components of this top-notch photolithography machine have already been assembled, and they were debugged many times while Xu Lei was preparing the photoresist.
There are no problems when starting up and using it.
And when the lights were decorated outside and the whole family was happy, the first top-grade domestic lithography machine finally roared in its own way, sending the most precious blessings for this New Year.
As the laser emits laser light and hits the dripping tin liquid, a high-power plasma is excited, and the radiation emitted by the plasma in all directions is captured by the collector, concentrated and finally transferred to the lithography system to expose the wafer.
As for the wafer coated with photoresist, it has already been placed on the exposure table, and circuits are etched on it with the help of photosensitivity.
Although this process does not take a long time, because the produced chips need to be tested and analyzed to ensure that they are qualified products, you still have to wait patiently to get the final results.
Not exaggerating.
Among everyone present, except Xu Lei, who was feeling quite uneasy at the moment.
I want to believe that this project will be a complete success, but I am also afraid that something will go wrong in the end.
——
that's all.
Everyone was so exhausted that when the New Year's bell was about to ring in the evening of the Spring Festival, a tester walked in with excitement on his face and a data analysis document in his hand.
"Dean Yang, the test data of the chip are out."
"Bring it here quickly."
Finally, at this time, Yang Senping didn't care about his image and took the initiative to walk towards the other party before he finished speaking. Gu Ruo
He reached out and took the document and looked at it carefully.
About half a minute later, Yang Senping could no longer hide his excitement and immediately announced loudly to everyone.
"We succeeded."
"Starting from today, we will have a mature 3-nanometer high-end chip production process."
And while saying these words, he handed the document to Xu Lei.
It can be said that this result was completely within Xu Lei's expectation. He was not surprised by it, so he took the document and only glanced at it briefly before passing it to Hao Yaoping and other members of the project research team.
Let them also share this joy.
"It's really unbelievable. We have conquered the photolithography machine technology that has not seen results for many years. Now it has not only been realized but also directly surpassed the overseas process level."
"Who says it's not the case? Who would have thought half a year ago that we would see such a big surprise during the Spring Festival."
"This is all due to XCMG. The reason why geniuses are called geniuses is indeed very reasonable."
As the emotions of Hao Yaoping and others reached his ears, Yang Senping took up the conversation and added: "Next, we will mass-produce this domestic top-level photolithography machine so that it can have the ability to take production orders as soon as possible. By that time we will
chip design companies will no longer need to look for overseas foundries."
Just as everyone was immersed in this joy, they heard Xu Lei suddenly ask: "Dean Yang, has the special metal material bismuth I need been shipped?"
"It arrived last month."
Yang Senping heard Xu Lei mention this, and after answering in a deep voice, he seemed to have thought of something, and hurriedly asked: "Is it really possible to use this kind of metal to reach the physical limit of silicon-based chips and produce 1-nanometer chips?"
"That's right."
"Although the top 3nm lithography machine is enough to shock all walks of life overseas, I don't mind taking advantage of this momentum to make the next big push. If our process reaches the 1nm level, overseas countries may not have the ability to catch up even if they want to catch up."
If everyone was excited about the achievements of domestic lithography machines just now, then after hearing Xu Lei's words, they were only shocked.
I couldn't help but take a deep breath.
In fact, for members of the project research team, it is unimaginable to develop a top-level photolithography machine that can produce 3-nanometer chips. As for the physical limit of 1-nanometer chips, they have not even considered it.
Anyway, 3 nanometers alone is enough to lead overseas chip manufacturing technology.
So after learning that Xu Lei was really sure to produce a 1-nanometer chip, I don't know how to describe my mood.
But in the end, Yang Senping temporarily stopped Xu Lei's move. After all, it was the New Year, and it was time to relax and relieve physical stress. It would not be good to focus on work all the time.
So when Yang Senping's face was once again occupied by a smile, he immediately said to Xu Lei: "I, the dean, am already very embarrassed to have everyone gather here on New Year's Eve. How can I still allow you to devote yourself to work?"
.”
"I have already made a reservation for the celebration banquet. I will wait until after the Spring Festival to finish the other matters."
"Besides, it doesn't have to happen in the next few days."
Speaking of which, Xu Lei will definitely not insist on anything.
Although he also wants to solve the chip issue as soon as possible and return to the company, now that the photolithography machine has been successfully manufactured, and the special metal bismuth is also in place, it does not take much extra time to produce a 1-nanometer chip.
Pay attention to these days.
Decide on the next arrangements.
Soon, members of the project research team took a special bus to the hotel that Yang Senping had booked in advance. Apparently Yang Senping had long believed that Xu Lei could prepare a photoresist that could meet the requirements.
…
January 25, 2020, Saturday.
Spring Festival.
Today is definitely a day worth remembering in China, because just when everyone is paying New Year greetings to their elders everywhere according to tradition, the official account of the Chinese Academy of Sciences released a special video without warning.
The video introduces some of the research and development of domestic top-level lithography machines and the 3-nanometer chips produced.
Officially announce its position in the semiconductor market.
Because of the previous fermentation of various news on the Internet, everyone believed that it was impossible for the Chinese Academy of Sciences to develop a high-end lithography machine. Although they were disappointed by this, it could not change anything.
But compared to the initial enthusiasm, I have gradually lost interest and am too lazy to pay attention to this matter anymore.
So after discovering this video, many people didn't react for a while, until they clicked in and read the content, their mouths opened wide in shock.
I never expected that the Chinese Academy of Sciences would not only successfully develop a photolithography machine, but its process would also greatly surpass the technology possessed by overseas companies.
Overtaking in corners was completely achieved.
Unexpected and explosive news like this spread on the Internet at a speed that can hardly be described as fast. It didn't take long for the entire Internet to have a heated discussion on the same topic.
"Damn it, am I really wrong?"
"Please forgive me for my previous judgment. I didn't expect that a domestic lithography machine would actually be developed."
"It seems that overseas are still trying to produce 5-nanometer chips. We will go directly to 3-nanometer chips. This is definitely the most exciting news I have heard this year."
"Who swore that it couldn't be developed two days ago? Does it hurt from being hit in the face now?"
"I'm afraid we have already made a major breakthrough in the research of top-level lithography machines, but we have just done a better job of keeping it confidential."
"I want to know how overseas companies behaved after learning the news."
"Just waiting for the market to open after the Spring Festival, my fund will definitely surge like a chicken."