Chapter 1373 Silicon Valley (first update, please subscribe)
More than ten years ago, Matare invented the transistor in the laboratory of the Department of Physics of Taiping University.
It was from that day that mankind entered a new era. At the time, no one knew what changes the transistor and the subsequent invention of the integrated circuit would bring to human civilization.
But it was also on that day, here, that the butterfly was flapping its wings.
Yongning is the sixth largest city - it used to be the fifth largest, but with the rise of Dongning, it was squeezed out. The old name here was "Pontianak". The city is located at the estuary of Kunjiang River. This city is located across the city from the equator. In the old days, it mainly exported agricultural and forestry products, and bird's nest is also a well-known product here.
In the past ten years, this area has developed rapidly like other places in NBC. Modern industries such as textile industry, machinery manufacturing, and metallurgy have become the mainstay of the local economy. There is even a steel company under construction in the north of the city. The Block Steel Company is not only the first large-scale steel company in the southwest of NBC, but also the most modern. After all, it uses the most advanced steel smelting technology at present.
However, the most famous company in Yongning is "YN·Zeiss", that is, Yongning Zeiss. This optical company developed by relying on equipment dismantled from Zeiss, hired engineers and skilled technology. Not only did it have early cooperation with West German Zeiss, East German Zeiss is also known as the "Three Big Zeiss", and the company has further developed here.
But other than that, Yongning... is basically the same as Zhongxing and Yongding, a place with no sense of existence. After all, this is just an "equator city" with a population of only 7 million people.
Unless half of the population lives outside the main urban areas on both sides of the Kunjiang River, like other places in NBC, many people live in nearby satellite cities. The so-called satellite cities are roughly cities within 60 kilometers of the main urban area. Those cities They vary in size, like scattered stars, surrounding the main city.
The star-like satellite cities are connected to the main city by highways and urban railways. Although NBC's road transportation and automobile industry are very developed, urban railways are the most convenient transportation between satellite cities. Its operating speed exceeds 150 kilometers per hour. Each urban railway train It consists of three carriages, half the length of a subway train, and can accommodate about 600 passengers.
Although most people live and work not far apart, millions of people travel to various places via urban rail every day. There are not many such commuters, but there are also many.
Just like in the past, Xiao Mingjie came to the urban rail platform with his briefcase, passed the ticket check and entered the carriage. After a while, the train started again. As the train accelerated, the palms on both sides of the railway line continued to move backwards in sight.
Xiao Mingjie, who was sitting in the carriage, was flipping through a magazine. Suddenly, a piece of information in the magazine attracted his attention - Professor Harold from the Department of Chemical Engineering of Fu Jen Catholic University had successfully prepared a refined product with a purity of 99.99999999. of high-purity silicon.
"That is 7N grade ultra-pure silicon..."
As a transistor expert, Xiao Mingjie immediately realized the significance of this ultrapure silicon for integrated circuits. The single crystal silicon material used for etching is the core material for the production of silicon electrodes. Its product quality and stability directly affect the work of etching equipment and semiconductors. Product quality stability and yield.
"If Yonghe Materials can solve industrial applications, the chip yield will definitely increase by one level, and its price will definitely decrease by then."
Although Yanan Electronics, run by Xiao Mingjie, is also an integrated circuit production and design company, he does not mind the falling prices of integrated circuits, because only by lowering prices can the integrated circuit consumer market flourish. In fact, in the past decade or so, it is precisely because of the popularization of the production and consumption market of transistors and integrated circuits that the NBC electronics industry has developed greatly - the semiconductor market has provided funds for the professionalization of the semiconductor supply chain. It has spawned professional companies in various fields from ultra-pure silicon wafers to photolithography machines.
Because there is a consumer market, there is a willingness to reinvest. More than ten years ago, Xiao Mingjie, who worked as an assistant to Professor Matare at Taiping University and participated in the invention of the transistor, relied on this wave to obtain venture capital and founded "Yanan Electronics".
In fact, he was not the only one. Matare's assistants when he developed transistors, including Zhu Ruixin and Xiao Peiwu, who were known as the "Three Heroes of Taiping" together with him, all started their own companies, and they all chose to work in Yongning. Start a business.
The reason why I chose Yongning was not only because of Yongning Mayor Ding Changjie’s support for the electronics industry at the time. Not only did he open up a rainforest near Yongning University as a new area and encourage electronic companies to move in with low land rent, but he also Local "innovation funds" provide investment to these enterprises. There are even tax breaks.
Thanks to local support, in the past ten years, from transistors to integrated circuits, from production to design, an industrial zone with the production and design of integrated circuits and the production of electronic computers as its core industrial zone has been formed in the northwest of Yongning University. Its name is "Silicon Valley" - the reason why there is the word "silicon" in the name is because most of the local companies are engaged in the semiconductor industry and computer industry that process and manufacture high-precision silicon. And "Valley" is derived from the valley.
"Silicon Valley Station has arrived. Passengers getting off the train, please be prepared and get off from the left door..."
After the train arrived at the station, Xiao Mingjie immediately got off the train, walked outside the station, and hailed another taxi.
"Master, go to Yanan Electronics."
As the car drove towards the company, Silicon Valley appeared in front of him. There were mid- to high-rise buildings scattered on the roadside. There were both research institutions and start-up companies. In the past ten years, it had developed into NBC Electronics Technology. center. At least to a certain extent, this is the center, and even Yongning University has benefited from this - electronic technology-related majors have developed rapidly.
When passing a building, looking at the words on the building, Xiao Mingjie raised the corners of his mouth and said with a smile:
"PBC electronic materials..."
PBC is the abbreviation of Plant Breeding Company. It is strange for such a word to appear in "Silicon Valley". Plant Breeding Company is NBC's largest seed company. This company originated from the United Kingdom. It has not only achieved success in the seed field, but also invested in other fields. , a few years ago, the emerging electronics industry attracted the attention of plant breeders, and two of its research laboratories began to study silicon materials.
PBC's Inorganic Chemistry Division has added a new member, PBC Electronic Materials, whose factory, once completed, will be used to make "ultrapure metallic silicon," a material essential in making transistors and rectifiers. The start of construction of the new factory represents the beginning of PBC's entry into this field to provide products to the emerging electronics industry.
PBC Electronic Materials' factory is located approximately 60 kilometers east of Pontianak, where the clean air environment is ideal for the extreme cleanliness required for silicon wafer production. In the past few years, its factory has been expanded to provide Czochralski ingots.
Although it is still smaller than Yonghe Materials in terms of scale, he also has his own specialty products. Now, just as Xiao Mingjie was rushing to the company in a taxi, there was a burst of cheers in the laboratory of PBC Electronic Materials Building. .
"Success, we succeeded..."
In front of a 50MM silicon wafer, a group of researchers wearing dust-free suits cheered.
Dr. Backhouse's normally unsmiling face also showed a smile. After adding PBC electronic materials, he took on the task of designing a polishing process, which will provide a more perfect wafer surface for growing epitaxial layers. The hard abrasives used to polish the wafers can create scratches on the surface. Although they are not visible in the substrate, they appear once the epitaxial layer is grown.
In order to improve the quality of silicon wafers, Dr. Backhaus and his team have been conducting research in this area.
"In the beginning, we used aluminum oxide suspension for polishing. If we continue to use it, we will eventually get a better surface on the wafer... Later, in order to solve the existing problems, we manufactured a colloidal silicon product, and they brought it over Tried it and it was alkaline to keep it suspended. All scratches on the epiwafer surface disappeared and now we can provide the most perfect wafer surface! It has an exposure resolution of 10 microns! ”
In the laboratory, looking at the silicon wafer with no damage on the surface, company manager Luo Shouzhi said with a smile:
"Not just the most perfect chip, but the biggest..."
Looking at Backhouse, Luo Shouzhi said:
"Our factory has produced the first batch of 100 mm wafers, which are the largest wafers in the world. We have now, to a certain extent, left Yonghe Materials behind."
Yonghe Materials is NBC's earliest materials company and has the strongest technology. Although they both have corporate backgrounds like PBC, the competition between them is fierce, and they all try to surpass each other.
The total step exposure area of 50mm wafers currently on the market is only 1/4 of that of 100mm wafers. Using it to make integrated circuits is equivalent to making four pieces in the same time as 50mm wafers can only make one piece. The price and labor hours are The advantages will naturally come out.
This is why Luo Shouzhi emphasized that they had left Yonghe behind. When they regarded each other as rivals, they did not even realize that it was in this process of chasing each other that NBC's electronic technology was also constantly improving.
From photolithography machines to integrated circuit design, from wafers to chips, plus a series of inventions such as photoresist, this is a complete industrial chain. And this advantage is something that many countries do not have.
On this day, "Silicon Valley" is still the same as in the past. Hundreds of companies and tens of thousands of employees are still working in their respective companies. The sun sets as usual, but the light of Silicon Valley is destined to light up the whole world...< br>
(End of chapter)