Chapter 80

A press conference is being held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

The media outlets attending the press conference used sensational headlines such as "About to Change the Fate of Chinese Technology" and "A Milestone in the Development of Chinese Science and Technology" to attract attention. Of course, if the content of the press conference is true, then these headlines are indeed well-deserved.

At the front of the venue was a giant screen displaying the theme of the press conference: "Huaxin No. 1 Photonic Chip Press Conference".

Before the press conference officially started, the reporters who had already taken their seats whispered among themselves, exchanging the latest news they had obtained from various sources.

As Ji Zhe inspected the camera, voice recorder, and other equipment in his hands, he sighed inwardly.

This is the third time he has photographed Ji Zhixing. The first time was at the CUPT competition award ceremony, the second time was at the press conference held by Guangling University on the Navier-Stokes equation, and the third time is today's press conference on the theme of "photonic chips".

The topics are becoming more significant, and the occasions are becoming more prestigious.

It can be said that he witnessed Ji Zhixing's development from the very beginning of his career.

Ji Zhe looked up at the four large characters "Photonic Chip" on the display screen. Would today be the starting point of another legend in Ji Zhixing's life? Or the beginning of his disgrace?

"Hanxin" was only 20 years ago, and "Beichen No. 1" had just caused a great stir. "Huaxin No. 1" suddenly appeared at this time. Everyone, including Ji Zhe, was worried that this was a "boy who cried wolf" story.

Perhaps precisely to dispel public doubts, this press conference was unprecedentedly allowed to be broadcast live by the media. This clearly demonstrates an attitude of not being afraid of supervision, putting "Huaxin No. 1" under everyone's watchful eyes.

With multiple live streaming channels launched, tens of thousands of viewers clicked in every second, and the number of online viewers quickly exceeded 100 million.

"I have mixed feelings; I'm both looking forward to it and afraid of getting hurt."

"I believe in Ji Zhixing. He has the achievement of solving the Navier-Stokes equations. There is no need for him to leave a stain on his life with false scientific research results."

"It's probably true. Don't you know where the press conference is being held? The Great Hall of the People!"

"Pshaw! Changan Oushang X7 and FAW Hongqi H9 have both held their launch events here, okay? Holding a launch event here only shows that they have a lot of money, nothing more."

"Yes, the location doesn't prove anything, but the press conference was hosted by the Capital Information Office."

"The attendees at the press conference were also quite distinguished, including the Minister of Science and Technology, the Director of the Science and Technology Department of the Ministry of Information Industry, the Mayor of Beijing, the heads of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Science, Technology and Education, as well as many academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and some of the nation's top chip research teams."

"Just because they dared to broadcast this press conference live, I'm willing to believe in the authenticity of 'Huaxin No. 1'."

"Look, Ji Zhixing has entered!"

Ji Zhixing walked into the venue step by step, with Professor Gao Xiao beside him and all the members of the photonic chip project team, including Yu Zhuli and Deng Yi, behind him.

Earlier, after they submitted their final report to the National Natural Science Foundation of China, they received a reply on the same day, hoping that "Huaxin No. 1" could cooperate with the joint expert team for verification.

Ji Zhixing gladly accepted.

He could understand that at the national level, this was the first time the country had been bitten by a snake, and it had been bitten twice already. This third time, no amount of caution was too much.

The expert team that came to verify "Huaxin No. 1" was almost the same team that investigated the authenticity of "Beichen No. 1". They were professional, fair and efficient, and quickly produced a comprehensive verification report, which fully recognized their photonic chip technology.

In order to sweep away the negative impact of "Beichen-1" and boost national morale and market confidence, the Ministry of Science and Technology took the initiative to invite them to hold a public press conference.

Ji Zhixing would certainly not refuse, but the high level of this press conference still exceeded his expectations.

After the host's routine opening remarks, Ji Zhixing took the stage.

After the photonic chip project was completed, Gao Xiao added Ji Zhixing's name to the project leader's column. However, he was chosen to speak because, after the press conference was confirmed, Director Xin from the Capital Information Office, who was in charge of liaising with them, specifically confirmed that everyone unanimously recommended Ji Zhixing as the main speaker.

Director Xin was initially a little apprehensive. The higher-ups had high hopes for this press conference, considering it the starting point for another leap forward in Chinese science and technology; almost the entire capital was mobilized. Wouldn't it seem too frivolous to have a young man in his twenties speak at such a high-profile press conference? Although Ji Zhixing had the Fields Medal, the Navier-Stokes equations and photonic chips were completely unrelated fields.

However, everyone in the photonics chip project team still insisted that Ji Zhixing was the most suitable spokesperson.

Yu Zhuli said, "He is the main technical force of the entire project."

Deng said, "He has participated in the International Congress of Mathematicians and has the most experience in speaking."

Professor Gao Xiao said, "He's handsome."

Director Xin accepted these suggestions, but as he watched Ji Zhixing, with his thick, black hair, walk onto the stage, he couldn't help but feel a pang of anxiety, fearing that the young man might be too nervous and falter at the last minute.

Ji Zhixing gripped the microphone and spoke calmly.

"The 'Huaxin-1' chip uses femtosecond laser direct-write technology and boasts a single quantum logic gate fidelity of up to 99.96%..."

Ji Zhixing spoke eloquently and concisely, introducing the technical process of "Huaxin No. 1" from conception to completion. He then detailed its performance and precision, and analyzed a series of production processes such as photonic chip deposition, photolithography, etching, ion implantation, and packaging. It can be said that he explained the key points of photonic chips clearly from a professional perspective.

Director Xin's heart, which had been clenched with anxiety, gradually calmed down. He was a political science and public administration major, a pure liberal arts student. Naturally, he couldn't understand the chip technology that Ji Zhixing was talking about, but he could still read it.

The academicians and chip experts in the front row nodded frequently, some scribbled furiously, some beamed with joy, and some had tears in their eyes. How well Ji Zhixing spoke—was there even a question?

Next was the Q&A session, and the first reporter asked a question that many people were concerned about:

"Mr. Ji, as you just mentioned, 'Huaxin No. 1' does not rely on lithography machines for its fabrication like traditional chips. How is this achieved technically?"

When it comes to technical issues, Ji Zhixing is not afraid of people digging into the details.

"Simply put, technically, we achieve various optical micromanipulations through the novel optical tweezers technology developed in our laboratory. This enables the guidance system and optical sorter that can capture, transmit, and control the selection of nanoparticle branches, providing support for high integration on silicon substrates..."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a tech-savvy reporter followed up with a question:

"As far as I know, optical tweezers can cause optical and thermal damage to particles. How can this problem be avoided?"

This was exactly what Ji Zhixing wanted to know.

Initially, their group developed a new type of low-temperature optical tweezers technology, and after writing a paper, it was successfully published in "Chinese Science". However, it did not make much of a splash until now. This is a good opportunity to showcase their work.

"The novel optical tweezers technology developed in our laboratory differs from traditional optical tweezers. It does not rely on a strongly focused spot formed by converging laser beams to capture particles, but instead controls the quantum eddy currents of a vortex beam to manipulate particle swarms..."

Compared to "photonic chips," "optical tweezers" are much more unfamiliar to people watching the live stream, but some people still realize the importance of this new technology.

"Wow! Optical damage and thermal damage are solved?!" (How many more surprises do you have that I don't know about?.jpg)

"What? What's the use of this technology? Could you explain in more detail?"

"Once the problems of light and heat damage are solved, there are so many things that nano-optical tweezers can do in the life sciences. For example, they can non-invasively inject trace amounts of substances into cells and biological macromolecules to achieve drug delivery at the microscopic scale."

"To put it more simply, for example, it can remove red blood cells from capillaries to clear blood clots, it can clear viruses, bacteria or cancer cells at the RNA level, and it can even capture DNA to genetically modify the parts that are needed!"

"Wow, that sounds pretty awesome."

"However, photonic chip technology is still absolutely the top priority!"

"So, which is superior, photonic chips or quantum chips?"

"Currently, unless there is an explosive breakthrough in the field of physics, the ceiling for quantum chips is obvious, while the upper limit for photonic chips is not yet visible. The performance of 'HuaXin-1' has already entered the ranks of the world's most advanced chips, and I am more optimistic about the future upgrades and evolution of photonic chips."

"When the Wolf Act was first introduced, many people said China's aerospace industry was doomed, but now we have the Tiangong space station and the BeiDou system. When the chip bill was first introduced, so many people were pessimistic, but now we have photonic chips. Long live China!"

Many viewers watching the live stream online were deeply moved, while leaders, experts, and journalists at the venue were moved to tears.

As the press conference drew to a close, everyone in the audience stood up spontaneously, and the applause lasted for a long time.

Over the years, China has broken the high-tech halo of Western countries in many fields, such as aerospace and maritime fields, including fifth-generation fighter jets, space stations, manned spaceflight, lunar and Mars exploration, Type 055 destroyers, aircraft carriers, electromagnetic catapults, etc. However, cutting-edge chip technology has always been a weakness.

Technology is the primary productive force. In this era, so-called sanctions do not require guns and cannons or rivers of blood; a chip the size of a fingernail is enough.

A tiny chip carries the weight of the power struggle between two superpowers in the new century!

Everyone gazed intently at the "Huaxin No. 1" chip spinning on the large screen behind Ji Zhixing. This tiny chip embodied so much long-held anticipation.

Deng Chi's gaze shifted from "Huaxin No. 1" on the screen to Ji Zhixing. He suddenly thought that if Ji Zhixing hadn't been there when he threw that piece of waste silicon-based material into the trash can that day, would he have missed the turning point in China's chip development?

The thought that he had almost become a traitor to the nation for a moment made Deng Shi shudder involuntarily.

A note from the author: