Chapter 1051 God said there must be light (Third update, two-in-one)
“...I firmly believe that the invention of the transistor is the second most advanced technology in the history of human civilization after the steam technology revolution and the electric power technology revolution. Another major leap, which undoubtedly marks the beginning of the third industrial revolution for mankind..."
Although Li Yi'an's acceptance speech in Stockholm caused an extremely strong response in the scientific community, There are those who agree and there are those who are against it, but in Nanyang the supporters make up the vast majority.
In fact, anyone who knows Nanyang knows that Nanyang is a country without historical burden. This burden also includes academic burden, because without academic authority, everyone can develop their own opinions and conduct research. All kinds of research without considering the existence of academic authority or even academic circles.
Even though there are many Nobel Prize winners in Nanyang, most of them are very humble. After all, when they first came to Nanyang, Nanyang was the only country that could accept them. After all, in Germany they Most of them are "Nazis", and at worst they are "Nazi collaborators".
In short, the academic atmosphere in Nanyang has always been extremely relaxed, and of course there is official support for scientific research. According to official statistics, in 2015, Nanyang officially invested NT$500 million in research and development funds. In that year, the U.S. federal government R&D funds are US$1.5 billion, and Nanyang's investment is equivalent to one-third of that of the United States. In 2005, it increased to N$5.6 billion, still maintaining one-third of the investment scale of the United States. Considering the differences between the two Given the quantitative gap, one can imagine Nanyang’s huge investment in scientific research.
It is thanks to the relaxed academic atmosphere and sufficient research funds that the Nanyang scientific community has made major breakthroughs in various fields in the past ten years.
Of course, the more important thing is talents. From the introduction of German scholars at the beginning, to the efforts to cultivate talents, although it takes ten years to cultivate trees and a hundred years to cultivate people, although it has only been ten years, in the past In the past ten years, Nanyang has trained hundreds of thousands of talents.
However, Zhang Jingye, who graduated from Daping University, never considered himself a talent. Although he had obtained a master's degree as early as two years ago, this does not mean that he would consider himself a talent. At least to some extent that was the case, after all, he did not pursue further research in physics.
As usual, on the way to the company by subway, Zhang Jingye flipped through the December issue of "Physics", which is Nanyang's top physics journal, and with Nanyang's academic influence With its development, Physics magazine has now become one of the world's authoritative academic journals in physics.
Suddenly an article attracted Zhang Jingye's attention, and he was surprised.
“Hey, the “law of non-conservation of parity” proposed by Yang Zhenning and Li Zhengdao was actually confirmed so quickly! ”
Looking at the paper in the journal, Zhang Jingye’s expression was slightly shocked - Wu Jianxiong proved the non-conservation of symmetry in weak interactions, verifying the work of Yang Zhenning and Li Zhendao last year. The proposed "law of non-conservation of parity"
After carefully flipping through the paper written in English, Zhang Jingye said
"If nothing happens, they will definitely get it. Nobel Prize! ”
Although he didn't know much about Yang Zhenning and Li Zhendao, as a master of physics, although he was not excellent, he could still discern the value of the "law of non-conservation of parity".
Just reading the "Physics" magazine with relish, the subway soon arrived. Zhang Jingye quickly put the magazine into his bag, hurriedly got out of the subway and rushed towards the company. The GAD company he works for is an emerging company engaged in integrated circuit research.
In Nanyang, there are many start-ups like this. Most of them are companies founded by young people. They develop their companies through their own investment and attract external venture capital. Although few of these companies have achieved any success, Who knows about the future?
As the founder of the company, Zhang Jingye was full of confidence in his company. In June 2005, when he had just obtained his master's degree, he obtained angel investment with a unique idea.
Angel round investment is commonly known in the Nanyang venture capital community. It is equivalent to charity and friendship. Its investment may not have much return. It refers to the initial financing received by the entrepreneurial project, that is, the start-up capital of the project.
To put it more simply, one person thought of a good project and found a few brothers to work on it together, but found out that they all had no money. At this time, he can use his project description to seek venture capital, and investors will invest tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands in him to start the project.
In Nanyang, many start-ups have received more or less investment from several investment companies, and GAD is no exception.
However, after a year and a half, the 100,000 yuan investment provided by the Success Fund has almost been spent. If you want to continue the research, you need the next round of investment, and this requires persuasion in kind. other side.
Ten minutes later, Zhang Jingye came to the company and dived into research again.
“To increase the density of integrated circuits, the most critical thing is to shrink...”
Staring at the integrated circuit diagram on the board, Zhang Jingye's brows furrowed.
Since Li Yian proposed building a circuit board that can contain all circuit components, and based on this, he proposed the concept of integrated circuits or microchips. Nanyang's research institutions have made a series of breakthroughs in this regard, from TCL engineers' discovery that all components of integrated circuits can be made of semiconductor materials to the creation of the first prototype of an integrated circuit, which is made of a piece of silicon It consists of several circuit components on the chip. The new device measures 1.6 x 11.1 mm – smaller than a postage stamp!
Since then, integrated circuits have been further developed in Nanyang and used in electronic products in Nanyang.
At the end of last year, Zhang Jingye came up with an innovative idea: In the manufacturing of integrated circuits, he used optical-chemical reaction principles and chemical and physical etching methods to transfer circuit patterns to single crystals. Surface or dielectric layer, a process technology that forms effective graphic windows or functional graphics.
With the help of company engineers, Zhang Jingye researched a silicon dioxide diffusion technology and a PN junction isolation technology, and creatively produced fine aluminum film connections on the oxide film to make the components and The wires are integrated into one.
After staring at the circuit diagram for a while, Zhang Jingye left the office and entered the drawing room, where a female employee was leaning over the desk, using a fine blade to cut the transistors on the photomask master with her bare hands. The circuit connections are carved out bit by bit.
Below the photomask master, there is an integrated circuit layout drawn with colored pencils. When the female employee was engraving the pattern, she relied on the backlight on the engraving table to make the pattern with bare hands, while Zhang Jingye inspected it carefully. Follow the already carved lines.
Almost half an hour later, Zhang Jingye said when he saw some beads of sweat on the forehead of the female staff member:
"Yujie, why don't you take a rest first."
Zhu Yujie shook her head and smiled,
"No, it's just the last bit. It's not too late to rest after the carving is done."
After saying that, she specifically looked up at the boss and emphasized.
“If I remember correctly, we are almost running out of money, and we have to build it as soon as possible to win the next round of investment.”
This is the last point, but wait a moment It was almost noon when they finished the last layout, but they did not stop. Instead, they used a special camera to shrink the master pattern 50-100 times to obtain a photomask for photolithography.
On that day, the world's first photolithography integrated circuit was manufactured, and the original photolithography machine that matched the manual photomask was a contact photolithography machine.
The time finally settled on this day, December 10, 1956, when Nanyang GAD Company, which had only four employees including the boss, manufactured the first contact lithography machine. As the name suggests, the contact lithography machine simply and roughly covers the photomask on the silicon wafer. The photomask is in direct contact with the photoresist layer, and then illuminated and directly exposed. Its principle is similar to that of a camera, or even a photolithography machine. The structure of the engraving machine is not as complicated as that of the camera.
Although it is a primitive and simple photolithography machine, it opens a new era.
……
“Through aluminum film wiring, components and wires can be integrated. This planar manufacturing process can not only reduce the cost of integrated circuits on a large scale, but also enable large-scale manufacturing. Mass industrial production..."
In an investment company, Zhang Jingye showed investors the company's invention, an integrated circuit only the size of a thumb.
"There are a total of 175 transistors on this integrated circuit board. It can be called the smallest integrated circuit in the world. Moreover, I believe that in the next step, we can even make one as big as a matchhead but integrating hundreds of transistors." An integrated circuit with a transistor!”
After Zhang Jingye showed the company’s invention, those investors immediately became interested. Since the invention of the integrated circuit, Nanyang companies have been studying its use. If integrated If the demand and output of the circuit are too small, then the company will not be able to make a profit. Just like when the transistor was first invented, only 10% of the transistor manufacturers in the United States could make a profit in transistor production.
It is by continuously expanding the uses of transistors that Nanyang companies have made profits. In the past few years, with the development of Nanyang's electronics industry, the market demand for transistors and integrated circuits has greatly increased. increased.
But the turning point came from the military industry. Two huge military engineering plans - the "Kuafu Project" and the "Peace Guardian Missile Development Plan", have greatly promoted the development of integrated circuits. The military is very supportive of the development of integrated circuits. They need this device to be used in the "Peace Guardian" in the minicomputer on the missile. Looking at this gadget with hundreds of transistors integrated in their hands, investors including Xiang Yunfei were stunned. They naturally knew the gold content of this integrated circuit - it contained hundreds of transistors.
They may not have studied physics or electronics, but as investors, they are no strangers to transistors.
“That’s the size of a few transistors.”
While amazed, Xiang Yunfei asked directly.
"So what is its success rate? I mean the production yield."
As a potential investor, Xiang Yunfei is more concerned about its commercial application, and the finished product The rate is related to its production cost.
Faced with the investor's inquiry, Zhang Jingye did not hide anything and answered directly.
“The current failure rate and cost of this photolithography method are very high. This is because the colloid itself and the attached dust particles not only affect the photolithography effect, but also cause pollution to the photomask. and damage, and the damage effect will accumulate with the number of photolithography times, which not only makes The yield rate of photolithography is low every time, so its success rate is only 10%..."
When he heard that the yield rate was only 10%, Xiang Yunfei raised his eyebrows and didn't say anything. I just looked repeatedly at the integrated circuit in my hand that integrated nearly 200 transistors.
After thinking about it, he picked up the pen and wrote a note and handed it to the assistant beside him. The assistant took the note and looked at it, and it read.
“Go out and ask, how many transistors were used in the first electronic computer in Nanyang?”
After taking the note, the assistant walked out of the conference room. After a while, he came back and handed Xiang Yunfei a note.
After taking the note and looking at it, a few simple numbers came into Xiang Yun's sight.
"Z5 computer, 800 transistors, power 300 watts, calculation speed 108,000 times, size 0.485 cubic meters."
800 pcs!
If replaced by this integrated circuit, it would be 4 and a half!
In just a moment, Xiang Yunfei made up his mind. At this time, Zhang Jingye’s introduction came to an end
“At the same time, the life of the photomask is seriously damaged, resulting in that a photomask can only be used a dozen times at most, so for now, its The production cost is still very high, but..."
Pointing to the integrated circuit in Xiang Yunfei's hand, Zhang Jingye emphasized.
“But in many key areas, such as the military, they still have a huge demand for such micro-integrated circuits, and as we all know, they care more about performance than price.”
< br>This is indeed a well-known fact. In fact, during the Cold War, the U.S. chip industry relied on orders from the military to develop. Although the military shouted "too expensive", it could not refuse its weapons. Performance improvements. The high price has also allowed related companies to see opportunities and join in. In the fierce competition, they continue to improve technology and increase the yield of integrated circuits to reduce prices. Finally, when its price is reduced to a range acceptable to the market, Later, the personal computer appeared.
“I am confident that through technological upgrades, we can double the number of transistors that integrated circuits can accommodate by the end of next year, and I believe that with the deepening of research on photolithography technology, in the future we can even achieve the same size of integrated circuits. The circuit can accommodate thousands or even tens of thousands of transistors, and its cost will be greatly reduced!"
When Zhang Jingye finished his words, he looked at the investors expectantly. The purpose of coming to the company this time is to obtain Series A investment, and this investment will be directly related to the life and death of the company! With investment, he can continue his research.
Facing the expectant eyes, Xiang Yunfei asked without thinking.
“So, how much money do you need now?”
Many times, things are so simple. As an investor, all Xiang Yunfei needs is to provide money to people with potential and ideas. It's just investment, and of course there are risks involved, but venture capital always has risks.
"Is the risk too great for 500,000 yuan?"
More than half an hour later, in the manager's office, Cheng Liyun looked at the project in front of him and then at Xiang Yunfei and said.
“This investment is almost the same as that of Wang An Computer Company. Lithography integrated circuits... do we need to bear such a big risk?”
Faced with the manager’s inquiry, Xiang Yun Fei took out the integrated circuit and said:
"Manager, look, you can make a Z5 with just four pieces of this integrated circuit. That is a Z5 electronic computer. Just imagine, Such a big pen holder..."
Holding the pen on the manager's desk, Xiang Yunfei gestured:
"Here are... 1, 2, 3... 15 pens. Just one pen is equivalent to 3 integrated circuits. It's so big." Forty or fifty integrated circuits and thousands or even tens of thousands of transistors can be installed in a certain place. Its computing performance is equivalent to more than a dozen z5 electronic computers. Manager, do you think it has investment potential? "< br>
Looking at the pen holder in Xiang Yunfei's hand, and then at the integrated circuit, although he didn't know much about electronic technology, he thought that such a large electronic computer could be shrunk into such a slightly larger pen holder. , it’s really amazing!
After thinking for a while, Cheng Liyun said.
“I seem to understand why Madam asked us to focus on projects in integrated circuits and electronic computers. It seems that it does have great potential for development.”
The manager's answer made Xiang Yunfei smile.
"My wife is a scientist herself. She must have her own ideas about the direction of technological development. Moreover, you have to know that behind my wife is Your Excellency. Not only did you win the Nobel Prize, but also the integrated circuit He invented it!”
The lady they are talking about is Heidi Lamarr. In the past ten years, the frequency hopping technology she invented has been used in the military. There are not many amazing inventions in the laboratory, but the Success Fund under her name has invested in many companies in the past few years, and most of those companies are start-ups.
The Victory Fund is just an investment fund created by Li Yian. The general investment direction of many funds, including the Success Fund, was personally determined by Li Yian. They are just following the general direction set by you and making investments.
"Your Excellency..."
When putting down the integrated circuit, Cheng Liyun nodded.
"Maybe you have seen this day long ago!"
Looking at the thumb-sized chip on the table, Cheng Liyun fell into deep thought. He didn't know what it meant. What, but I vaguely feel that this thing may be very important. Why is it important?
He couldn’t tell clearly.
After all, this thing seems to have nothing to do with ordinary people.
(End of this chapter)