In 1999, Hu Zhengming couldn't understand why Zhou Xin wanted to build a photolithography machine. In his opinion, the technology content of this thing was very high, but the profit was not that high.
Lithography machines will be crucial to China in the future, related to whether they can successfully manufacture chips with advanced processes and whether they can obtain sufficient computing power in the AI era.
1999 was considered the golden age of economic globalization, probably the early stage of the golden age. No country would want to do all the upstream and downstream aspects of the semiconductor supply chain on its own.
The current president of ASML may not expect that they will be able to monopolize the field of lithography machines in the future. What he cannot understand is that ASML will actually ignore China's billions of dollars in the market in the future.
There is money lying on the ground, and America won't let you bend down to pick it up.
Not to mention semiconductors, for more complex industrial products, the upstream and downstream supply chains are spread all over the world. Whether it is Boeing or Airbus aircraft, their supply chains come from hundreds of countries around the world.
There are too many semiconductor supply chains. How many products of first-tier manufacturers come from imports, and what is the process of domestic substitution? This cannot be summarized in any brokerage research report.
Americen wants to kick China out of the global supply chain, which is a crazy thing. China wants to make the entire semiconductor industry chain domestic, which is also crazy.
“If you don’t do something because it’s difficult, then what’s the point of life?
When Angry Birds sold 100,000 units, I knew my life had entered simple mode.
When Riot Games sold 40% to Bill Gates with a valuation of $500 million, my life entered a completely autonomous editing mode.
When I sold Quora to Time Warner for $70 billion, I had lost the meaning of life.
Professor, I need to find something difficult to do now and find the meaning of my life.
Lithography machines are a very interesting direction in my opinion. If we do it now and buy early technology from Nikon, there is still progress in this matter.
The later you do it, the harder it is to do it. "
Hu Zhengming roughly knew what Zhou Xin wanted to do, and many Chinese engineers had similar ideas.
The most famous person in this regard in later generations is Zhang Rujing of SMIC. According to his self-report, even if Sida Semiconductor was not sold to TSMC by investors, he would sooner or later return to China to start a business.
In later generations, a large number of Chinese engineers came to work in China. Money was a very secondary factor, and helping China build the semiconductor industry was a more important factor.
Before hot money poured into the semiconductor field, the salary of engineers in China was no better than that of Wanwan.
Hu Zhengming thought for a while and then said: "I suggest you talk to Ben Jian for the real purpose. Ben Jian's teacher during his doctorate period was Yang Zhenning's younger brother, Yang Zhenping.
He should have had the idea of coming to China to work, but when he was young, China did not have a scientific research environment.
By the time he retired from IBM and started his own business, China was still in a state of exhaustion.
To put it simply, integrated circuits are a relatively high-end manufacturing industry. China did not have the environment for integrated circuit companies to survive before.
Now that there is an environment, Ben Jian is getting older. "
Lin Benjian was already 57 years old at this time and had passed the golden age of scientific research. No one thought that Lin Benjian, who was nearly 60 years old, would be able to achieve crucial scientific research breakthroughs in the field of lithography machines in the next few years.
Zhou Xin: "Professor, don't worry, in terms of salary, the conditions I offer will definitely be enough to satisfy Senior Lin.
I'm very satisfied that you can help me make connections. As for whether I can convince the other party, I can only leave it to fate. "
According to Zhou Xin's understanding, Lin Benjian is a devout Christian and will pray before making important decisions.
Whether you can convince the other party really depends on luck.
Speaking of the company founded by Lin Benjian, most Chinese websites think that the company he founded is called Linnovation Technology. In fact, the company is called Linnovation, which when broken down is Lin innovation, Lin Chuang Technology.
"Professor, this is a paper I wrote during this period, about the field of analog IC.
You asked me to read many papers in related fields before. This time I designed an analog-to-digital converter for direct sequence spread spectrum communication.
You can take a look first. I will be here today. If we have any questions, we can communicate at any time. "
"Hello, Uncle Lin. I have been hearing Professor Hu mention you. This time you come to California, I want to treat you to a meal.
I also have questions for you. "
Zhou Xin invited Lin Benjian, a Chinese-American born in Ho Chi Minh City, to have dinner at a famous Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco.
Lin Benjian was puzzled that Zhou Xin asked him to have dinner together because he had no connection with him.
Lin Benjian was no stranger to Zhou Xin. When Zhou Xin first came to America, Lin Benjian heard Hu Zhengming mention that he had recruited a student from Yenching University when he came to San Francisco for a meeting.
Then I heard this name from the media. In the news about Bill Gates investing in Riot Games, the name Newman Zhou appeared again.
There should be very few people with the same name as Amerikan, but Lin Benjian did not ask Hu Zhengming at that time.
Later, the emergence of Quora convinced Lin Benjian that Newman was Zhou Xin. At the same time, he also envied his friend for recruiting such a powerful student.
It has only been a year since he came to Amerikan, and in terms of achievements, Zhou Xin has become a synonym for Chinese in Amerikan.
Because it is September now, all new YSU students coming to America to study abroad will be asked by their classmates if they know Zhou Xin.
Recruiting a student like Zhou Xin was Hu Zhengming's blessing. Lin Benjian never thought that he would have anything to do with Zhou Xin.
I just didn't expect that this time when he came to San Francisco to attend the Optics Conference, Hu Zhengming would help Zhou Xin invite him to have dinner with him.
No matter what he thought, Lin Benzian could only think that the other party did have academic questions and wanted to ask him in person.
Lin Benjian said politely: "Newman, it is clear that he mainly conducts research in the field of semiconductor components, and of course also includes EDA circuit design and analog IC.
I think you are his student. I have read the papers you published before. They are actually about the direction of semiconductor components. What I mainly do is the overlapping direction of optics and semiconductors.
I may not be able to answer the question you asked. "
In terms of academic status and age, Lin Benjian was higher than Zhou Xin. In terms of social status, Zhou Xin was undoubtedly much higher. When you don't know how to call someone, it's always right to call them by their English name.
Zhou Xin: "I know your research direction. You have been working at IBM, doing research on ultraviolet lithography. You left IBM to start your own business, and you were also engaged in research in the field of lithography machines.
I am very interested in photolithography machines recently, so I want to chat with my seniors. "
Lin Benjian did not speak Chinese very well, so the two communicated in English.
“The mainstream light source for lithography machines now is KrF, but seniors, you have always believed that ArF is the future development direction.
In fact, no one in the industry adopts ArF. Whether it is Nikon or Canon, they have been investing R&D funds in KrF.
I want to know why, senior, you are so optimistic about ArF. "
ArF and KrF are deep ultraviolet light sources used in lithography technology. Currently, all mainstream manufacturers use KrF.
ASML cooperated with TSMC, and under the leadership of Lin Benjian, it was the first to start large-scale investment in ArF. This was also one of the key factors for ASML to achieve technology monopoly in the future.
Let me say a few more words here. Everyone knows that the photolithography machine is a key equipment in the semiconductor manufacturing process and is used to transfer design patterns to the wafer.
But many people are not so clear about how the photolithography machine works. To put it simply, a layer of photosensitive photoresist is first applied to the surface of the wafer. This photoresist will undergo a chemical reaction under UV light irradiation and then change its solubility.
Domestic photolithography machines are stuck, and photoresist is also stuck.
A photomask is then used, a transparent carrier with tiny patterns on it that represent the different components and interconnections in the integrated circuit. The photomask is placed between the light source of the lithography machine and the silicon wafer.
The light source (KrF or ArF) in the lithography machine shines on the photomask.
Light passes through the open areas of the pattern, and the blocked parts correspond to the pattern.
The light then passes through a projection optical system that scales and focuses the pattern onto the photoresist-coated surface of the silicon wafer.
After exposure, the photosensitive material in the photoresist undergoes chemical changes.
In positive photoresists, the exposed areas become more soluble; in negative photoresists, the exposed areas become less soluble.
The silicon wafer is immersed in a developer solution, which dissolves away the chemically changed areas of the photoresist. In this way, the pattern on the photomask is accurately transferred to the photoresist on the surface of the silicon wafer.
After the photoresist pattern is formed, the complete chip is built layer by layer through etching, doping or metal deposition steps.
There is no online encyclopedia, no, there is now the Quora encyclopedia. In short, being able to accurately name ArF and KrF proves that Zhou Xin has relatively in-depth research in the field of lithography machines.
After all, many practitioners in the field of lithography machines do not know that ArF is a technical route.
Lin Benjian said: "The wavelength of ArF is 193nm, while the wavelength of the KrF light source is 248nm. The shorter wavelength helps achieve higher resolution and finer patterns."
Zhou Xin asked: “But when ArF specifically handles smaller process nodes, more linear fluctuations and irregularities will occur.
Although ArF has a shorter wavelength, it is more uncontrollable.
This is a big no-no for industrial production. This is probably the most important reason why neither Nikon nor ASML are willing to continue investing in research and development costs in this direction after trying ArF. "
As soon as Zhou Xin finished speaking, Lin Benjian's expression changed drastically. Zhou Xin knew about ArF and KrF, which he could understand.
Because these are published in public journals, anyone interested in lithography machines has the opportunity to read them.
But Zhou Xin was able to accurately state the reasons for not investing in ArF, something that even practitioners have no way of knowing.
This chapter has a lot of popular science content, but there is no way. If you don’t explain clearly how the photolithography machine works, everyone will be confused.
The popular science content is 400 words in total, which is only 2 starting coins, so it’s not bad after calculation.
(End of chapter)
