Chapter 535 This World Has Gone Mad (Bug Fix): Dr. Lin's Life is Very Unfortunate

Lin Benjian had a terrible headache; the veins on his forehead were throbbing.

He looked at the two people opposite him and repeated, "Immersion lithography machine?"

Zhang Rujing nodded: "Yes, it will take at least two years for the new factory to be built."

If it's an 8-inch chip factory, he's confident he can take it on in 18 months; at worst, he'll just live on the construction site.

However, he had never built a 12-inch chip factory before, and there were many difficulties to overcome, so he had to allow plenty of time.

Lin Benjian felt like he couldn't catch his breath. Two years? Should he be grateful that he'd been given two more years?

He thanked him!

Without saying a word, Dr. Lin turned around and left the office, leaving behind only a flat, emotionless sentence: "I'm going to work."

Zhang Rujing followed a couple of steps behind: "Hey, I haven't finished yet..."

Then the door closed right in front of him.

Poor Dr. Zhang could only touch his nose, turn around, give Wang Xiao a wry smile, and spread his hands: "See, I scared him away, didn't I? I told you..."

Wang Xiao interrupted him without hesitation: "I didn't say a word. He was scared away by what you said."

Zhang Rujing: ...

He shouldn't have said that!

Wang Xiao took out a tangerine and offered it to Dr. Zhang. Of course, he didn't take it out of his pocket, but rather took it out of Dr. Lin's office.

Taking something without asking is considered theft? She's not going to take this dirty water.

She brought the tangerines with her.

They couldn't come empty-handed from their trip to the lithography machine factory, so they brought over tangerines, jujubes, and apples—a box of each item for each person.

Dr. Lin gave each of them two boxes, as the extras were specifically for entertaining his guests.

Since everyone who comes to our door is a guest, she and Dr. Zhang are guests too, so it's perfectly reasonable for her to take care of herself.

Having eaten someone else's oranges, Zhang Rujing's conscience kicked in, and he began to sigh: "Two years is indeed too rushed. It's almost enough to make a prototype, but to mass-produce it on the production line is difficult, really difficult."

Ultimately, the problem lies in a weak foundation and a lot of work to be done.

Mr. Wang's feeling was: Sweet, so sweet! These tangerines are really delicious.

Zhang Rujing continued, "The lithography machine is something that can't be taken lightly. Even if the machine gets into the factory, if problems arise, it will delay production and cause even more trouble."

When people talk about lithography machines now, they usually mention Nikon, Canon, and ASML, while other manufacturers are barely mentioned.

But there used to be a manufacturer called GCA, short for Geophysical Company, which was once the benchmark for global lithography machine companies.

How did it eventually fail? While there were certainly reasons such as misjudging the technical roadmap and inadequate customer service, the real trigger was Zeiss.

The GCA uses Zeiss lenses.

At that time, Zeiss had a lot of orders and looked down on GCA's small orders. Moreover, it was extremely confident in its technology, or rather, arrogant. It required that lenses be shipped without inspection because it didn't have that much time.

GCA couldn't assert itself against Zeiss, and it also had unwavering faith in Zeiss's technology. In addition, it was in a hurry to deliver the goods, so it agreed.

Unfortunately, the sealant in the lens malfunctioned, which directly caused GCA's lithography machine to fail at the chip factory. Initially, it worked without problems, but after a period of operation, the image quality plummeted.

The lithography machine had to be stopped for maintenance, but after checking and checking, they still couldn't find the cause.

Over time, even GCA's long-term clients couldn't keep up. Coupled with other management problems within GCA itself, it was thus dethroned from its leading position and eventually disappeared altogether.

Of course, it also left a legacy; its DSW4800 model became a benchmark for technology for institutions such as the 45th Research Institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation.

The earliest blueprint for Wuzhou's lithography machine factory was the lithography machine from the 45th Research Institute.

Oh, so why do you think ASML wasn't screwed over by Zeiss and instead gradually rose to prominence?

Is it because Europeans don't cheat other Europeans, but only Americans?

No, not really.

In fact, ASML was also scammed. Its PAS2500 also used a problematic Zeiss lens—Zeiss didn't give it any special treatment and delivered the product without any quality inspection.

The problem was that ASML had little presence at the time, and its PAS2500 simply couldn't sell.

As long as it doesn't cheat others, its reputation will remain stable, and it will naturally be able to take advantage of GCA's downfall to grab a share of the market.

Zhang Rujing told his boss this history to emphasize that lithography machines truly cannot be taken lightly.

Any small mistake can affect the overall situation.

As a result, Wang Xiao listened with great interest, as if it were a story, and even exclaimed in amazement, sighed, and sighed.

Zhang Rujing was speechless. Finally, he used his trump card: "If we want to change it now, it's not too late. We need to hurry up and build the eight-inch chip factory as soon as possible so we can get orders."

Wang Xiao quickly waved his hand, saying, "No, don't threaten her at the drop of a hat."

"Actually, it's not like we can't solve the lithography machine problem."

She peeled another orange and gave half of it to Dr. Zhang.

The latter glanced at her, but ultimately accepted the food. He held it in his hand without eating it, and instead asked, "How are we going to solve this?"

Export controls are in place, and there's nothing companies can do about it. The latter (enterprises) might want to make that money, but they're not allowed to.

Wang Xiao smiled and said, "Don't we still have factories in South Korea?"

In 1998, she bought LG Electronics' chip division. She didn't just buy people and technology; she acquired the entire production line, including the corresponding factory buildings, production equipment, and other fixed assets, as well as related patents and marketing networks.

Mr. Wang said slowly and deliberately, "South Korea is not restricted by the Wassenaar Arrangement! It can even buy 193-nanometer ArF deep ultraviolet lithography machines."

Zhang Rujing thought she wanted the engineers from Wuzhou Lithography Machine Factory to learn firsthand how world-class lithography machines operate at the factory in South Korea, so that they could apply their experience to their own research and development.

So he nodded without any psychological pressure: "That's one way too. Feedback data is very important."

Then, feeling a little more relaxed, he smiled and said, "So? Is it better to keep the factory in Korea?"

He was initially a little worried that once Mr. Wang achieved mature mass production of the 0.25-micron process at his factory in South Korea, he would move the entire factory back to mainland China. After all, land and labor costs are lower in mainland China, and even water and electricity costs are cheaper than in South Korea when compared together.

But having a factory in South Korea is definitely different from having a factory in mainland China.

He counted on his fingers for his boss: "Look, without the factory in South Korea, we wouldn't have been able to get the complete set of equipment to do the large-scale trial of the 0.18-micron process, let alone the 0.13-micron and 90-nanometer processes. Let's keep this factory."

Wang Xiao had finished half an orange, then picked up another one and tossed it around in his hand, saying in surprise, "I didn't plan to turn it off. It's useless, and I don't intend to turn it off."

Zhang Rujing was a little out of sync with her and guessed, "Were there any restrictions in the contract during the acquisition?"

This is normal. No matter who sells the company, they all hope that the employees can keep their jobs so that everyone can part ways amicably.

Wang Xiao shook his head: "The main reason is not that, but that South Korea needs a contract manufacturer."

What do you mean by that?

Wang Xiao held the oranges, smelled their aroma, and said happily, "Taiwan's foundries are doing so well and making a lot of money. The top two companies are really struggling. South Korea is so close, they're bound to see this."

The booming semiconductor industry in Taiwan demonstrates the great potential of the foundry chip model.

In 1993, well-known companies such as Nvidia and Broadcom were already operating in a fabless model.

By 1994, the companies involved had even formed their own fabless semiconductor alliance, promoting the globalization of this model, which stood in stark contrast to the IDM model.

In the following years, more and more fabless companies emerged. They focused on design and naturally needed factories to process the chips, which led to the rise of foundry chip manufacturing companies.

South Korea also has a similar factory called Annan Semiconductor. It entered the wafer foundry field by obtaining a license for process technology from Texas Instruments.

In addition to manufacturing digital signal processors for Texas Instruments, Annan also provides contract manufacturing services for companies such as Alcatel Microelectronics, Ericsson, and Toshiba.

Its 8-inch chip factory already has a production capacity of about 25,000 chips per month.

It looks pretty good, right? But don't forget the impact of the Asian financial crisis on South Korea's semiconductor industry, and don't forget that in 1998, Texas Instruments sold its memory business to Micron.

As a result, Taiwan's Deqi lost technical support from Texas Instruments, and Annan was not spared either.

To make matters worse, Ankor Technology, which invested in Annan in 1998, has a core business of chip packaging and testing, and wafer foundry is not its main business.

Everyone is struggling to survive after the financial crisis. Under such great pressure to survive, it is natural to protect the main business and cut other businesses as much as possible.

Amkor Technology has already stated that it has no intention of deepening its involvement in wafer foundry and has been looking for a buyer to take over this part of the business.

Although the sale of the wafer foundry business has not yet been finalized, everyone knows that it is a done deal.

If this happens, South Korea may no longer have any chip foundries.

After all, the current South Korean chip industry is a battle between Samsung and Hyundai Electronics, both of which are IDMs (Integrated Device Manufacturers) and it is impossible for them to transform into wafer foundries in the short term.

Moreover, they are so famous that even if they build their own dedicated foundries, most fabless companies wouldn't dare to place orders with them, preferring to go to TSMC and UMC instead.

In this situation, South Korea needs to save one of its chip foundries.

So, by all this maneuvering, wouldn't the original LG Electronics chip factory be brought to light?

Yes, yes, it has indeed been acquired by foreign capital; strictly speaking, it's not a South Korean company.

But if you look at the shareholding structure of Samsung and Hyundai Electronics, can you say they are purely Korean companies?

no.

So what? The factory is still in South Korea, the workers in the factory are mostly South Koreans, the GDP it generates belongs to South Korea, and it pays taxes in South Korea.

That's fine then, what else can we do?

Wang Xiao chuckled, "The industry is doing well right now, and the production lines of major Korean manufacturers like Samsung and Hyundai are very busy. Building a new factory themselves wouldn't be feasible in a short time, and the investment would be too high. But if they don't build a factory, they can't meet their production needs. Finding a contract manufacturer is actually the most suitable option for them."

She tossed the orange around in her hand like a clown juggling, but unfortunately there was only one orange, and she didn't dare to add another.

"In this situation, it is most suitable to have our factory manufacture the products. Firstly, it can maintain the demand for orders and prevent us from pushing customers away and closing the market due to insufficient production capacity. Secondly, the factory is located in South Korea, so the GDP and tax revenue generated are all in South Korea, and the jobs maintained and the talents trained are all in South Korea, which is in line with the overall interests of the country."

She smiled broadly, "So the better their business is, the better our business is too. Of course I can't close the doors of the Korean factory; those are orders delivered to our door."

Zhang Rujing was still holding the half-eaten orange in his hand. The more he pondered Boss Wang's words, the more interesting they seemed.

The factory in South Korea should definitely be kept.

South Korea's semiconductor industry has risen very rapidly. If major manufacturers like Samsung and Hyundai Electronics place orders with it, it means that the quality of the orders is not low.

Under the pressure of high-quality orders, contract manufacturers will be constantly forced to improve their technology.

Most importantly, in order to ensure the quality of order completion, customers will provide clear technical guidance to chip foundries and even participate deeply in the production process, which is standard practice in the semiconductor foundry industry.

With continuous technological exchanges with the outside world, the manufacturing processes of contract manufacturers will naturally continue to improve.

Zhang Rujing tore open a segment of orange, popped it into his mouth, and bit into it, releasing a mouthful of sweet juice. After finishing the orange, he smiled and said, "This is also because you, boss, are very understanding and sent the 0.18-micron process to the factory in South Korea for large-scale testing early on. It's a fair and aboveboard test."

They both knew that Wuzhou did this to warn the engineers at LG Electronics: if the yield of the 0.25-micron process could not be improved, then the group should simply abandon the process and go directly to 0.18 microns.

However, humans tend to rationalize their actions afterward.

Times have changed. What was once a threat can now be seen as Wuzhou's intention to properly manage its factories in South Korea.

Even the 0.18-micron process, which they had just successfully piloted in cooperation with IMEC, was not kept secret; it was directly taken to the South Korean factory for large-scale testing.

This shows that it needs to continuously upgrade its technology in its South Korean factory.

Only factories that are valued receive this kind of treatment.

Zhang Rujing found it increasingly amusing and couldn't help but laugh, nodding repeatedly and saying, "The Korean factory is indeed very important and deserves to be valued."

During lunch, he said the same thing to Lin Benjian: "There are no restrictions on the import of equipment to the Korean factory. Once the lithography machine is delivered, our factory will send people over..."

Wang Xiao immediately chimed in: "I've mastered the entire process, from factory shipment to delivery, installation, and testing."

Zhang Rujing felt that the boss hadn't grasped the key point, but considering that the boss wasn't a professional, it was normal for her to only scratch the surface.

So he nodded and agreed, "Things will be easier once everyone is familiar with everything."

Wang Xiao nodded vigorously: "Yes, if we really can't make it ourselves, then we might as well just bring over the lithography machine from the Korean factory."

Zhang Rujing was about to nod subconsciously when the words reached his ears and entered his brain, and he instantly snapped back to reality, nearly twisting his neck: "Move...move it over here?"

Wang Xiao nodded smoothly: "Yeah, anyway, they're all our stuff, let's just move them over and use them."

The three of them were sitting at the table. She was calm and collected, while the other two were completely bewildered.

Wait a minute, do you want to hear what kind of outrageous things you're saying?

What do you mean by "these are all our things, we can just move them over and use them"?

Are you kidding me? Don't you understand export controls? It can't even get in!

Mr. Wang said meaningfully, "There's always a way to get in."

Last year, the Xiamen Yuanhua case came to light, but that doesn't mean that all smuggling channels have been cut off.

If you can't bring in equipment openly, there are plenty of ways to do it covertly.

Zhang Rujing glanced around subconsciously, and couldn't help but feel fortunate that Chuanxi Gang wasn't there, otherwise the latter might have suspected that he was being alluded to.

After all, the infamous Toshiba machine tool scandal in the 1980s had dealt a severe blow to Toshiba.

At the time, Toshiba disguised its precision machine tools as low-level equipment to circumvent regulations and then exported them to the Soviet Union.

Lin Benjian frowned: "This won't do, absolutely not."

Wang Xiao said seriously, "Why not? Didn't we send you to learn the technology? We don't need Nikon's people for installation and debugging; we'll do it ourselves."

Zhang Rujing also found it absurd: "That won't work either. We're going to be a contract manufacturer, so they'll definitely need to visit the entire production line. They need to understand the minimum level of equipment. If we do that, won't we be exposed? How will we explain where the lithography machine came from? At that point, both Nikon and Canon will turn against us. We're setting them up."

Wang Xiao's eyes darted around, and one bad idea after another popped up: "This isn't entirely unsolvable. We can say we produced it ourselves and just change the label."

Zhang Rujing felt like his head was about to explode. What kind of nonsense was this?!

He took a deep breath, reminding himself that the person sitting across from him was the boss, and that bosses had all sorts of messy habits. Only then could I barely keep my tone calm: "That doesn't make sense. What if someone wants to buy the lithography machines you manufacture yourself?"

Wang Xiao immediately replied, "There are orders ahead of us. If you want it, please wait a bit until we finish the orders ahead of us."

She grinned and said, "Doesn't that give us more time?"

The world is just a giant makeshift table; don't put too much pressure on yourself.

When you feel guilty, think of Tesla.

In 2006, when its prototype was put out to raise funds, it had a host of problems. By 2007, it still couldn't meet the standards for delivery to customers and couldn't be driven on the road at all.

But did this prevent them from securing financing and obtaining a large, low-interest loan from the U.S. Department of Energy? No!

Even if you can't do it right now, creating a PowerPoint presentation is still a skill.

Dr. Lin clearly didn't have Mr. Wang's thick skin, and couldn't accept it at all.

He immediately frowned and emphasized, "This is outrageous! The equipment's origin is unknown, which will lead to endless problems. This violates business integrity and is irresponsible towards our customers. God will never allow such deception."

Wang Xiao skipped over the first two accusations and blurted out without hesitation: "Even God wouldn't allow the Wassenaar Arrangement to exist. God says, 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither free nor slave, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.' The Lord detests deceitful scales, but delights in fair weights. (Note ①) The Wassenaar Arrangement, with its monopoly of high-end technology, obstruction of normal trade, and pursuit of profit for a few at the expense of other countries' interests, is a direct violation of God's utmost justice!"

The people at the table were stunned. Zhang Rujing was speechless; he was also a Christian.

Lin Benjian's reaction was even more intense; he simply picked up his tray and left, refusing to eat.

Zhang Rujing snapped out of his daze, his head spinning instantly. He looked at his boss with a face full of unspeakable frustration: "You mean you?!"

Why are you offending tech talent at this crucial moment?

Wang Xiao touched his nose, feeling unusually guilty.

She just lost control of her emotions for a moment.

But Ms. Wang's guilty conscience didn't last more than three seconds. In the fourth second, she shifted the blame and directly asked Dr. Zhang, "Then you should go and persuade him."

Zhang Rujing was shocked by her shamelessness.

You're the one who offended someone, so why am I the one who has to mediate?

Wang Xiao said matter-of-factly, "I only said that because I consider you all as one of us. If I didn't consider you one of us, would I have said these things? I could have quietly taken care of everything and transported the equipment to the factory, and it would have been a done deal. I didn't do that because I consider you one of us."

She even sounded aggrieved, saying, "I have a pure heart, like ice in a jade pot, and a gentleman is open and honest."

Zhang Rujing looked at her, and without saying a word, immediately buried his head in his food.

He was an extremely frugal person; he would never waste any food, not even a single vegetable leaf.

What should we do after we finish eating? Of course, we should go and persuade Lin Benjian.

If he doesn't go, should we send Boss Wang instead?

Are you kidding me? With Mr. Wang's unreasonable and audacious behavior, if she were to actually talk to Burn again, she might just make him really sick.

Poor Dr. Zhang had no choice but to clean up his mess and go clean up the mess left by his boss.

It must be said that Zhang Rujing is an absolute master at integrating teams.

At lunchtime, Dr. Lin stormed off, furious.

They would meet again at the dinner table in the evening—not because they loved to talk during meals, but because they only had time to leave their work posts and squeeze in a few things to discuss during mealtimes.

Lin Benjian showed great respect to his boss and took the initiative to apologize: "This is because we didn't do our job well."

He is a kind person and has already accepted Zhang Rujing's advice—is the core of today's conflict and the trigger because the lithography machine factory has not kept up with the group's semiconductor layout?

Yes, yes, that is indeed a bit of a stretch. With such a weak foundation, technological breakthroughs are inherently difficult.

But no matter how difficult it is, it is the responsibility of the lithography machine manufacturer and the technicians themselves.

The boss is the one who pays the bills. She has already done her job. If you didn't meet the requirements later, isn't that your fault?

Furthermore, just because you can't keep up with the pace, does that mean the entire group's semiconductor strategy has to slow down to match your pace?

That's impossible!

The yield of 0.18-micron process technology is steadily increasing, and large-scale trials of 0.13-micron technology are about to be launched. Why are we holding back? Are we just waiting for your lithography machines to catch up?

Do you think this is reasonable?

The boss's outrageous remarks were also a sign of her anxiety.

She didn't scold you for being too slow, nor did she force you to produce a mature immersion lithography machine in two years.

She was forced into a corner, so she came up with the idea of ​​using the South Korean factory as a transit point to obtain imported lithography machines.

Think about it yourself, isn't it tough for her? Hasn't she been actively trying to find solutions to her problems?

She doesn't have a technical background, so she can only think about things from a business perspective.

Lin Benjian was persuaded by Zhang Rujing, and then he persuaded himself.

This made Boss Wang sigh inwardly, realizing that it was true what they said: sometimes, the more academically gifted someone is, the more easily they are manipulated by others.

They have high standards for themselves and like to take responsibility upon themselves.

She cleared her throat, seized the opportunity, and apologized: "I was too hasty in speaking about God today."

But she doesn't intend to apologize completely, "but I'm also indignant on behalf of God, who clearly desires equality for all."

We are all God's servants, so why distinguish between high and low, noble and base?

Lin Benjian sighed, not continuing the topic, but instead becoming even more curious: "You're well-versed in the Bible, why don't you believe in God?"

He felt obligated to save the lost sheep, and that Boss Wang's deviant behavior stemmed from a lack of God's guidance.

Is she a devout Christian because her parents were both communists? But her fiancé is a believer. The vast majority of Russians are Orthodox Christians.

Wang Xiao chuckled inwardly. What kind of Bible did she know so well?

It was such a thick book, with densely packed small print, that it made her eyes blurry. How could she possibly read it thoroughly?

She's just a pragmatist; she picks out whatever phrases she can use and memorizes them.

Lin Benjian is also working to recruit believers: "Next time you have time, let's go to church together. With the help of brothers and sisters, you will feel God's love more deeply."

Wang Xiao immediately called a halt, thinking to himself: You still have time to go to church? Clearly, you're not busy enough.

Therefore, she didn't feel at all that she had exploited Dr. Lin.

She said with feigned seriousness, "Because I don't want to lie to you. I could pretend to believe, but God has always had many false believers who are exposed many years later, or even never exposed in their lifetime. But I don't want to deceive my own people. Maybe I will believe in God in the future, maybe I will never believe, maybe I will believe and then not believe. One cannot limit one's future; anything is possible."

She then changed the subject, saying, "Besides, so what if I believe in God? The Wassenaar Arrangement won't disappear just because I believe in God. Russia and Belarus have so many devout believers in God, yet they still have a bunch of export restrictions on equipment."

Lin Benjian was speechless; faith and politics are two different things.

Strictly speaking, this is a typical case of inconsistency between words and deeds, an inherent contradiction between religious ethics and politics.

Lin Benjian felt he couldn't think too much about it; the more he thought about it, the more his head ached.

But Wang Xiao continued spouting nonsense: "Lin Bo, do you think if I believed in God now, my prayers would be especially effective? It's the newbie protection period, you know. Shopping websites even give out big coupons to attract new users. If I pray to God..."

Lin Benjian's temples were about to explode, so he turned around and left.

Staying here for even a second longer would be suffocating.

Wang Xiao was still calling out from behind, "Hey, hey, Lin Bo, I haven't finished speaking yet."

Dr. Lin didn't even turn his head. He'd rather do more work than listen to her nonsense.

Sigh, the progress of immersion lithography needs to be accelerated.

There are also lithography machines with a wavelength of 248 nanometers, which need to be continuously optimized and must stably support multiple mature process nodes from 0.25 micrometers to 0.13 micrometers.

Otherwise, he was really afraid that once the 12-inch chip factory in Shanghai was built, Mr. Wang would smuggle Japanese lithography machines over from South Korea.

When it really came to that, he didn't know how he would face God.

————————!!————————

[Winking] Boss Wang is definitely not a conventional person.

Note: The Book of Galatians in the Bible says, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither free nor slave, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Proverbs also says, "The Lord detests deceitful scales, but delights in fair weights."