Chapter 61 Lithography Machine Upgrade Successfully Austronesia, Sanshin Headquarters Materials Laboratory. A group of material scientists, who were highly paid by Sanxin Group, were having a heated discussion in the office. Each of them held a thick document in their hands, and while arguing about something, they would occasionally look down at the contents of the document. Jinze sat aside and listened quietly. His face had changed from expressionless at the beginning to gradually brighter, and even his signature warm smile appeared on the corners of his mouth. The points of contention among these scientists have gradually become clear. The technical information stolen from the Xinghai Materials Laboratory should not be wrong. After a while, the argument died down. A man with slightly gray hair sitting at the front walked over. He was Cui Zhixun, the chief scientist of this laboratory. "Boss Jin, based on our deductions, the preparation method described here should be feasible." He couldn't help showing a trace of admiration on his face, and said sincerely: "I have to say that the person who came up with this idea is simply a genius. This method of preparing carbon nanotubes from graphene is no longer a simple trial and error method. It is a result of a certain theoretical basis and a combination of wild ideas."
Jin Ze did not refute after hearing this, but stood up with a smile. "In that case, the next R&D work will be handed over to you. Organize the technical data as soon as possible and put it into production as quickly as possible." Cui Zhixun answered confidently: "Yes, Mr. Jin, as long as the R&D funds can be guaranteed, it will be very simple for us to do it!" As the chief scientist of Sanxin Materials Laboratory, he doesn't care where the technical information comes from. He just needs to follow the company's instructions. Other issues such as infringement will be solved by the company's lawyers who have spent a lot of money to hire. Jinze nodded and walked out without paying any attention to the scientists present. Without even taking a rest, he rushed to the chip laboratory not far away to inspect it. Then he ordered four three-nanometer lithography machines from Aspen in the name of Sanxin. After arranging all this, Jin Ze finally returned home to Jin Zhiyong's residence and told him everything he had done in the past few days. Looking at his grandson in front of him, whose face no longer had the youthfulness he once had, Jin Zhiyong remained silent for a long time after hearing these words. If he were in their place, he would never use this method to obtain Xinghai's nano-carbon tube technology. Xinghai has all the technical patents for carbon nanotubes. If Sanxin does this, Xinghai will never give up once this material is used in future chips. He knew that semiconductor chip companies had a very high status in China. Jin Zhiyong actually didn't take Xinghai Technology seriously. But if Huaxia was behind it, was it a wise choice for Sanxin to rush out to challenge? Aren’t you worried about the reckoning later? At this moment, he was hesitant and confused. A trace of emotion flashed through Jinze's mind. The once wise and decisive grandfather must have really grown old. Otherwise, why would he be so hesitant about such an extremely important technical choice? In the future, once the graphene chip is controlled by Sanxin, as a member of the highly cooperative relationship with the Baiyue Alliance, the Baiyue Alliance will stand up and endorse Sanxin on the issue of patent ownership. He knew what his grandfather was worried about, but in his opinion, there was no need to worry about that at all. For a long time, Jin Zhiyong did not give any opinions. He just waved his hand tiredly. "I am old now, and the future belongs to you young people. I hope you won't let me down." Jin Zhiyong's old voice fell into Jin Ze's ears, and it sounded a little desolate, like a hero in his twilight years. Time flies, three months later.
Institute of Optical Instruments, Kyoto, China. Today is the day for acceptance after the upgrade and transformation project of the 5-nanometer lithography machine is completed. Inside this lithography machine factory, which has been reduced in size by half compared to before, a group of acceptance personnel wearing sealed dust-proof suits are chatting through the built-in microphones in their clothes. Before the transformation, the original lithography machine was much larger than similar products of AS Corporation due to its backward technology. However, after being transformed with high-voltage radio technology, it is much smaller than Aspen's five-nanometer lithography machine. Fanren stood behind the crowd, and he was very satisfied with the upgrade results of the machine. Although the acceptance was carried out today, the test results were already available before that. Today is actually just a formality. At this moment, someone tapped him from behind. Fan Ren turned around in confusion. Ke Fengyun's face appeared before his eyes through his dust-proof suit. He turned on the microphone and whispered, "Master is calling you over. I'll be here." Fan Ren nodded and was about to leave when he heard his voice again. "Brother Fan, thank you for your great help." Fan Ren paused, waved his hand nonchalantly behind him, and walked towards Yan Wentai's office. After taking off his dust suit, he quickly arrived at the office door. Seeing that the office door was half-open, Fan Ren pushed it open without thinking and said, "Director Yan, you want to see me?" "Yeah, come and sit down." When Yan Wentai saw the visitor, he put down the work in his hands, stood up and sat on the sofa with Fan Ren, then habitually took out his cigarette box, and they each lit up a cigarette. He rarely smokes in front of his apprentice Ke Fengyun, otherwise he would be annoyed by his nagging. "That's right. Thank you very much, Mr. Fan, for your support for our work during this period. Your chip laboratory has not yet received a photolithography machine, right?" Yan Wentai has always been quite direct in his speech, and Fan Ren is used to his rhythm. He nodded repeatedly after hearing this and said, "Yes, I originally planned to purchase a 14-nanometer lithography machine, but now that our 5-nanometer lithography machine has been successfully upgraded, it might as well wait for a while. However, I would like to start the research and development of our laboratory in small steps for the time being. I guess I will have to trouble you to be flexible and let me use the lithography machine here. Don't worry, Xinghai will pay all the expenses in cash." He was also helpless. After being upgraded, the 5-nanometer lithography machine is now more accurate than similar products from ASUS. And it has great advantages in terms of energy consumption and cost. Adding up all these differences, he now completely disdains the previous 14nm lithography machine. After all, he now has the opportunity to choose, instead of having no choice before and having to use the 14-nanometer lithography machine. Yan Wentai shook his head and said with a smile, "This one is not for you to use. This is the first domestically produced prototype. You know, it is generally not used for production." When Fan Ren heard this, his expression suddenly darkened. After thinking for a while, he asked tentatively: "Mr. Yan, can you please tell me when our results can be put into production and how long the production cycle will be? If it doesn't work, I can only settle for the next best thing and use the 14NM one." After saying this, he sighed. He knew that the first prototype had more symbolic significance than practical significance, and Yan Wentai could do nothing about it.
However, the graphene chips produced in this way are products of backward technology, although their performance is definitely far ahead of silicon-based chips of the same level of technology. But in the end, he felt that there was something missing. Seeing Fan Ren, who always had a confident look on his face, now looking dejected, Yan Wentai couldn't help but laugh. "Director Yan, please stop teasing me." Fan Ren rubbed his head, feeling very distressed. "Okay, okay, I won't tease you anymore. This is what happened. We still have a 5-nanometer lithography machine that has not yet been completed. Previously, because many indicators of the first prototype were not ideal, after discussion, we urgently stopped the production of this 5-nanometer lithography machine that was still in the production process." Before Yan Wentai finished speaking, Fan Ren's eyes lit up. "Director Yan, what do you mean?" Yan Wentai took a puff of cigarette, not caring about Fanren's shining eyes, and continued: "What I mean is that Xinghai will fund the production of this 90% completed lithography machine, and at the same time you will lead the researchers in the institute to do the previous upgrade project again and try to see if there is any room for optimization. After completion, this 5-nanometer lithography machine will be directly delivered to Xinghai for use with Xinghai Technology’s investment. What do you think?” After hearing this, Fan Ren couldn't help but look happy. The market price of a 15-nanometer lithography machine is around 20- billion. But the annoying thing is that Bai Yue won’t sell this thing to you at all. Now with this unfinished semi-finished product, Xinghai can solve the lithography machine problem that has plagued them for a long time at a very low cost. After this, the research and development of Xinghai graphene chips can finally be resumed. (End of this chapter)