Chapter 585: Hope for the rise of domestic lithography machines! Qualcomm? Just a clown!
EUV light source, that is, extreme deep ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 13.5 nanometers, is the core of achieving "ultra-precision circuit engraving" and directly determines the chip's minimum line width, integration and performance ceiling.
With just one exposure, the circuit diagram on the mask can be copied to the surface of the wafer.
Traditional DUV lithography machines require "multiple exposures" to form the fine circuits required for chips.
Specifically, the photoresist in the same area needs to be subjected to 2 to 4 photolithography and development operations, and the final effect is equivalent to the level that can be achieved by a single exposure of the EUV lithography machine.
The NXT 1950i DUV lithography machine that Liang Jinsong purchased from GlobalFoundries and UMC can also produce 14-nanometer and even 10-nanometer chips, but it must use a multiple exposure process.
However, multiple exposures will increase the number of photolithography steps, lengthen the production cycle, sharply reduce the yield rate, and rapidly increase the cost, which will be at least 30% to 50% higher.
This is also the main reason why ASML can firmly control the entire semiconductor industry as long as it does not sell EUV lithography machines to China's Fab factories.
Even if other key technologies are mastered, the high manufacturing costs will lead to the loss of commercial value and market competitiveness.
Take the same chip product for example. Qualcomm can still make a gross profit by selling it at US$20, but if domestic chip manufacturers sell it at the same price of US$20, they will suffer a 30% loss.
Faced with such a gap between cost and profit, the purchaser is naturally unwilling to pay.
The magnetic confinement discharge excitation method proposed by Chen Yansen abandons the scheme of laser bombarding liquid metal tin and exciting extreme deep ultraviolet light, and instead adopts a technical path of generating stable, high-brightness plasma on the surface of the metal tin target through high-power pulse discharge under the confinement of a strong magnetic field.
The advantages are obvious: solid target material plus high-voltage discharge, simpler mechanical structure and higher stability.
This is a highly differentiated technology that can bypass a large number of existing LPP patent barriers.
"Thank you for your hard work. We will continue to develop and extend our patents based on our magnetic confinement discharge excitation technology to prevent European and American semiconductor companies from using micro-innovation methods to restrict us."
After listening to Lin Nan’s report, Chen Yansen immediately gave instructions.
Why did Qualcomm fail?
It's because he set up new patent barriers in radio frequency, communication decoding and other technologies, blocking Qualcomm's exit.
Otherwise, would Paul Jacobs willingly sign a patent cross-licensing agreement with Tiangong Technology?
Don’t even think about it!
Of course the road you walk on must be blocked!
He doesn't want a company to suddenly appear one day and sue Xingyuan Technology for infringement.
"Okay, boss. I know the importance of building a patent ecological barrier." Lin Nan responded immediately.
He is a senior engineer at the Shanghai Institute of Optical Precision Mechanics and is well-known in the industry.
Previously, when Xingyuan Technology and the Optoelectronics Institute under the Huazhong University of Science and Technology Association jointly promoted the research plan, Hu Ruihui recommended Lin Nan to Chen Yansen.
Chen Yansen gave money when asked for it and gave equipment when asked for it, acting like a wealthy man.
Lin Nan had wasted more than ten years in the research institute. Seeing that researchers from private companies had won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, how could he sit still?
After receiving Chen Yansen's invitation, he joined the optical research laboratory of Xingyuan Technology without hesitation, and worked side by side with the academicians of the Institute of Optoelectronics, trying to find a new way to find a commercially viable EUV light source excitation method.
There was no progress at first, until Chen Yansen pointed out an imaginative route.
"Electromagnetic field" is used instead of "laser" as a means to excite and confine plasma, and a group of superconducting magnet coils are set around the discharge area to produce a special magnetic mirror field configuration.
First, a pulse current is used to excite the plasma, then a multilayer mirror is used to collect the 13.5-nanometer wavelength, and finally it is focused and output.
Lin Nan didn't agree at first, but after studying it for a while, he found that his boss's plan was not a fantasy, but was highly feasible.
It turns out that this path is correct!
"Okay, that's it for now."
Chen Yansen hung up the phone very calmly.
In his opinion, photolithography technology is an extremely huge link. In addition to the light source part, modules such as the objective lens system, dual workbench, and photoresist are also of paramount importance.
Figuring out the excitation method of EUV light source is just the first step in a journey of a thousand miles.
The other side.
Lin Nan was secretly shocked, his expression a little out of control. He really wanted to call back and tell his boss, "With this technology, it's not impossible to win the National Highest Science and Technology Award next year!"
But then he thought, Deep Blue Technology also has three Nobel Prize winners in Chemistry, so it is normal for the boss to react indifferently.
Since the "Magnetic Confinement Discharge Plasma Light Source" is a joint research result of Xingyuan Technology and the China Science and Technology Association, the news spread quickly in the domestic scientific community.
After learning about this, Hu Ruihui stood up suddenly, unable to believe it at all.
"It's only been less than four months, and there are already results? Are you kidding me?"
Hu Ruihui walked around the office and, for the first time in his life, swore.
At the same time, the Optical Laboratory of Harbin Institute of Technology and the Longzhou Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics also received the news.
First reaction: fake!
But after repeated verification, they had to believe that Xingyuan Technology and Yanjing Institute of Optoelectronics had really developed EUV light source technology.
Moreover, it has successfully bypassed the patent defense wall built by ASML, Carl Zeiss, Sanxing, TSMC and Cymer.
Two hours later, Li Qingsong received a call from Hu Ruihui.
"First, block the news. Have the staff of the Anguo Association rush to Shanghai immediately. All personnel involved in the research and development process must sign a confidentiality agreement."
After understanding the importance of this technology, Li Qingsong's face instantly became solemn and he gave instructions to the secretary beside him.
He saw hope for the rise of domestic lithography machines in Xingyuan Technology!
"Okay, Mr. Li." The secretary did not dare to delay and picked up the phone to contact the Anguo Association to sort out the list of people who needed to sign the confidentiality agreement and the docking procedures one by one.
Li Qingsong stood in front of the glass window of the office, looking at the gray sky of Yanjing, and couldn't help falling into deep thought.
Star Source Technology's technological breakthrough in the field of EUV light sources is like a thunderclap that splits the fog on the road to self-developed lithography machines, but it is also accompanied by countless undercurrents.
Once the news leaks, international giants such as ASML and Carl Zeiss will never sit idly by. They will either delay progress through patent lawsuits, or join forces with the supply chain to put pressure on the company, or even use external forces to intervene.
After all, the semiconductor industry has never been just a simple technological competition, there are too many interest games involved behind it.
The development of Xingyuan Technology is unexpected!
at the same time.
In the optical research laboratory of Shanghai Xingyuan Technology, Lin Nan is leading the team to conduct the third stability test.
The data stream jumping on the screen shows that the output intensity of extreme deep ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 13.5 nanometers is stable at more than 92%, and the energy conversion efficiency is 7.1%, far exceeding the LPP light source mastered by ASML.
This data has reached commercial standards!
But there are still many huge challenges and uncertainties ahead.
For example, pulse discharge and plasma themselves generate huge amounts of heat, and both the rotating target and the liquid film require extremely strong cooling capabilities, which the current thermal management technology does not match.
Although you can enjoy exclusive use of a new road, you still have to slowly explore the supporting equipment and technology by yourself.
The road ahead is long and arduous!
…
…
In the evening, after get off work, Chen Yansen did not return to the Delta Villa District, but rushed to the airport and took a Gulfstream 550 to Luzhou.
At 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon, Tiangong Technology will hold a new product launch conference at Luzhou Convention Center to officially launch Tiangong B100 and Tiangong C100 to the market.
Of course he couldn't be absent.
Half an hour later, the plane landed at Luzhou Xinqiao Airport.
Then he changed to a Maybach and drove towards a villa in Baohe District.
Another thirty minutes passed before Lao Huang slowly stopped the car.
I saw a three-story villa standing in front of me, covering an area of more than 200 square meters, with one underground floor and three above-ground floors, with a construction area of more than 800 square meters.
It has its own garden of more than 200 square meters. Different from the villas in Xucheng, this house has a terrace swimming pool in addition to the viewing pool.
Mr. Chen bought it two years ago and has never lived in it once.
"Old Huang, come pick me up at one o'clock tomorrow afternoon."
Chen Yansen got out of the car and said something casually.
"Okay, boss."
Huang Boxiang nodded in response. He spoke less and less, and acted more and more like a professional driver.
Without waiting for Chen Yansen to speak, he took the suitcase down and helped the boss push it to the living room door.
After doing this, turn around and leave.
Chen Yansen didn't bring his key, so he raised his hand and knocked on the door.
Ye Qiuping, who was outside the house, had heard the noise a long time ago, but she didn't come to open the door because she was busy changing clothes.
With a "crack" sound!
The copper-clad mahogany door opened with a sound.
"Boss, do you like it?"
Master Ye was wearing a long green gauze dress. She held her head high, her mouth slightly open, biting a strand of hair, and asked in a coquettish manner.
A tail is hidden behind it, swinging back and forth.
"Bang!"
Chen Yansen slapped Master Ye hard on the buttocks, then walked into the living room and said lazily, "Bring my suitcase in, and then make a simple four-dish and one soup."
"Oh." Ye Qiuping covered her butt and responded obediently.
Although he was beaten, he felt sweet in his heart and wished Chen Yansen would slap him two more times.
Because Mengjie, Song Yuncheng and herself are all in Luzhou, but Chen Yansen chose to come to her, which means that the boss sometimes has a different kind of preference for her.
Ye Qiuping rubbed the place where she was slapped, and the smile on the corner of her mouth could not be hidden.
She walked quickly to the door, bent down and picked up Chen Yansen's suitcase.
Chen Yansen sat on the sofa and replied to Meng Jie and Song Yuncheng respectively.
Ye Qiuping put the suitcase away, then quickly picked up a pair of men's slippers, walked up to Chen Yansen, and helped him take off his shoes and change them.
Seeing her tail wagging, Chen Yansen couldn't help but reach out to grab it.
Master Ye's ears turned red, his body softened, and he lay on Mr. Chen's knees, saying softly, "Boss, if you keep holding my tail, I won't have the energy to cook for you."
"Then eat seafood first, then have dinner."
Chen Yansen pulled his tail, and Ye Qiuping's face became even redder, like a pink peach, and her eyes were shining with water.
…
…
The next day, Lei Yijun rushed to the airport early in the morning and headed straight to Luzhou.
The same is true for Zhou Hongyi, Ding Lei, Jia Yaoting and Wu Hongxin.
Mobile phone manufacturers such as Huawei, ZTE, Coolpad and Lenovo also sent representatives.
The market performance of Tiangong A100 is obvious to all, and I think the performance of Tiangong B100 and Tiangong C100 will not be too bad either.
Why did Qualcomm suddenly take action to suppress Tiangong Technology?
It’s because Chen Yansen touched some people’s cakes.
Since the establishment of Xingyuan Technology, Senlian Capital’s ambition in the semiconductor industry has been exposed. It wants to control both the chip design and chip manufacturing links.
Many people think that Chen Yansen is too greedy. He wants to make money from everything, from chips to restaurants, and he will fail sooner or later.
But in the eyes of Lei Yijun and others, Chen Yansen does have this ability.
Even in the face of pressure from Qualcomm, Chen Yansen performed with ease. He used second-hand lithography machine orders to lock in GlobalFoundries and UMC's 28nm process chip production capacity in advance, and at the same time used Orange Technology's procurement business to win over MediaTek and Nvidia in one fell swoop.
Qualcomm?
He instantly became a clown!
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
