Chapter 444 Hidden dangers are exposed, lithography machine starts
Many people in later generations have more or less heard of some of the equipment such as lithography machines.
After all, the chip supply problem has caused many media to report a lot of related content.
But in 1988, at least 99 of the 100 Chinese people had never heard of lithography machines.
Needless to say, ordinary people, even college students who are promising in heaven, as long as they are not from related fields, they do not know that there is such a device in the world.
In the early 1980s, due to the rapid development of the global semiconductor industry, Huaxia actually launched a lithography machine project.
At that time, relevant research institutes and factories of the Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Electronic Industry participated in the project and developed the first generation of lithography machines, which could meet the needs of domestic low-end chips.
However, the gap between these lithography machines and the international advanced level and the distance between three generations of products is still there, and there is no hope of catching up in a short period of time.
During the same period, as the relationship between the United States and China entered its honeymoon period, various lithography machines can basically be purchased from the international level.
In addition to the limited funding, the lithography machine project was finally officially launched in the previous two years.
This is definitely a very regrettable thing for Lingnan Semiconductor.
Whether it is Zhang Shaohua or Jiang Hui, they all know this.
After all, when I decided to enter the semiconductor industry, I must have an understanding of some things in this field.
As a key processing equipment, lithography machines are naturally the focus of attention.
Otherwise, Zhang Shaohua and the others would not regard purchasing lithography machines as the most priority.
"Mr. Jiang, your worries seem to gradually become facts."
"It's just that our first phase factory is still under construction, and the second phase factory has not been built. If the construction of the third phase factory is immediately started, it seems that the risk is a bit too great."
"Do we need to consider and continue to communicate with relevant domestic research institutes to see if we can restart the research and development of lithography machines?"
Zhang Shaohua knew that Jiang Hui actually didn’t like importing equipment from overseas, and there was nothing we could do at this stage.
So seeing that Jiang Hui fully recognized his worries, he immediately threw out the new proposal.
"The Ministry of Electronics Industry and the Academy of Sciences have both dismantled the lithography machine project. It is probably difficult to get them to launch again."
"And their current technical level is still limited, and I don't think I can put my hope on them."
"It's better to start from scratch and start a chip production equipment research and development project including lithography machines on Nanshan Equipment."
"We must have the ability to produce key equipment such as lithography machines and etching machines."
"Related technicians can be recruited from the original research institutes of the Ministry of Electronics Industry."
Jiang Hui has always attached great importance to the development of the equipment industry, otherwise he would not have set up Nanshan Equipment specifically and promoted the establishment of an industrial equipment industrial park in Shenzhen.
In recent years, Nanshan equipment has developed very fast and has initially achieved certain strength.
Taking this opportunity to officially enter the field of lithography machines and other equipment, it is also a good time.
Although domestic lithography machine technology is still very different from the international advanced level, this gap is still relatively small compared to later generations.
After all, international lithography machines have mainly made great progress in the past decade.
China has already mastered the old technology from more than ten years ago.
Considering that the international community has not taken any measures against China in terms of high-end equipment, Nanshan Equipment, as a port city enterprise, still has the opportunity to obtain some information from the international community.
No matter how bad it is, first, I will start a round of domestic production work with the lithography machine purchased by Asmay.
After the domestic equipment is produced, a new generation of products will be developed based on this.
Although this will cause the lithography machine of Nanshan Equipment to lag behind the international advanced level for several years, it is also completely acceptable.
In the next ten years, as long as Nanshan Equipment and Lingnan Semiconductor can closely keep up with the development pace of the international semiconductor industry, it doesn’t matter if it cannot be surpassed.
After all, the various chip needs in China basically do not require the use of the most advanced lithography machine, which can also be achieved.
For example, the lithography machine purchased from Asmay now has developed normally according to history, it will take until the mid-1990s that there will be a wave of relatively large technological progress.
In the meantime, Nanshan Equipment has reserved a certain amount of time to catch up.
"If it is Nanshan Equipment that can directly launch the lithography machine project, it will naturally be the best."
"It is better to rely on yourself than rely on others. Our group has sufficient R&D funds and can attract a large number of talents to join the R&D team."
"We can even set up a branch in Port City to attract international talents to join."
Zhang Shaohua boldly put forward a new suggestion.
He knew that in the field of lithography machines, there was still a big gap between the domestic level and the international advanced level.
It is actually quite difficult to invite high-end international talents to work in Shenzhen.
If you just go to Hong Kong City, it would be different.
"You start the relationship between colleagues in the company first and find ways to dig up all the people in the lithography machine project team."
"As long as you are a skilled person, you can negotiate the treatment."
"The worst can be doubled than their current salary and benefits."
To poach people from the system, you must put in a decisive effort.
Even if BMW Automobile Group is now the largest foreign-funded enterprise in the country, it is not so easy to get people who are used to working within the system to break out of their comfort zone.
Of course, for technical talents who truly love the research of lithography equipment, the situation may be better.
"I'll hold an internal meeting later to talk about the lithography machine project."
"Let everyone mobilize their connections to poach people."
"Then I will also communicate with Nanshan Equipment."
Zhang Shaohua naturally fully supports Jiang Hui's idea.
Soon, Nanshan Equipment and Lingnan Semiconductor started to move.
In order to enable this project to be truly implemented, Jiang Hui also flew back to the capital and reported to his father-in-law.
After all, the Ministry of Electronics Industry has now been incorporated into the Ministry of Machinery and Electronics Industry and is under the jurisdiction of the father-in-law.
"The lithography machine project will be dismantled that year, and it must have been decided after sufficient discussion."
"In addition to funding issues, too large technical gap is also a big problem."
"The lithography machine purchased by Lingnan Semiconductor Phase II factory is the most advanced product produced by Asmay."
"Even if you do localization work based on this equipment, it may be very challenging."
It’s not that Zhu Jiansheng doesn’t support Nanshan Equipment to build lithography machines.
There is no scientific research institution in China to do it specifically. Nanshan Equipment is willing to challenge it, so he is too happy.
But he was also worried that his son-in-law would fall into the pit.
"I have expected this situation."
"But to develop the semiconductor industry, core equipment such as lithography machines must have the ability to domestically be produced."
"Otherwise, we will suffer a big loss in the future, and there is no way to make our semiconductor industry a world-class level."
"If you don't start doing it now, if you do it in more than ten years, the technical gap will be even greater and the difficulty will be higher at that time."
Jiang Hui told him his thoughts very directly.
Although he could not say that the international market would not sell advanced lithography equipment to Chinese companies in two years, it is still easier for everyone to understand from the perspective of industrial development.
After all, in the future, Lingnan Semiconductor will pose a variety of measures to suppress Lingnan Semiconductor whenever it poses a threat to international semiconductor giants.
One of the best ways to prevent your factory from upgrading equipment in time.
"If you make up your mind to do it, the department will definitely support it with full support."
"At that time, I will ask the secretary to arrange a special person to organize a contact list of relevant units and main persons in charge of the lithography machine project."
"You can arrange for people to go and connect with them directly."
"Even if necessary, the department can arrange people to do ideological work."
Without Jiang Hui saying anything, Zhu Jiansheng also knew what work to do next in Nanshan Equipment.
No one in the company now understands lithography machines. If it really starts from scratch, it will be too difficult.
Recruiting a group of industry insiders is an inevitable thing.
Even if these people have different technical levels from their international standards, at least they are all experts.
"If there is a list, it's best."
"At that time, we also want to buy all the techniques and materials we have studied in the past from some factories."
"Stop some technical disputes or data loss disputes."
Although Jiang Hui is preparing to poach people from the system, he does not intend to take advantage of it.
Those outdated information are actually not worth much.
It is naturally the best to clean all the tails.
"This is OK."
"However, some people are used to life within the system and suddenly have to go to work in a company, which is probably difficult to accept."
"I think you can communicate with Capital University of Technology and set up a major related to semiconductor technology and chip equipment in their Shenzhen-city universities."
"And set up a special research institute."
"In this way, if some scientific researchers under the Academy of Sciences and the Ministry do not want to leave the system."
"The department can assist in the process and transfer them to the Shenzhen Branch of Capital University of Technology to work."
"This will allow them to participate in the development of your lithography machine project throughout the process, and it will also promote the improvement of the school's strength."
After Zhu Jiansheng said this, Jiang Hui's eyes immediately lit up.
Ginger is still spicy.
With such an auxiliary means there, when you poach people next, you basically don’t need to worry about not being able to poach people.
"I'll go to the school to communicate."
"Nanshan Equipment and Lingnan Semiconductor contribute to the materials, and the school provides staffing and other related things. We both have thoroughly organized semiconductor technology research and development and equipment research and development."
"In the future, with the strong influence of these two fields, Shenzhen City Branch can also become a top university in China."
Jiang Hui is very optimistic about the prospects of the semiconductor industry. As long as you do it well, you will definitely benefit greatly.
This will drive the rapid development of a series of disciplines such as materials science, physics, chemistry, optics, and microelectronics.
And then the teachers and students at Shenzhen City Branch will be exposed to the most cutting-edge technologies in the industry.
Unlike some universities, they always teach technology that lags behind the times, and they don’t know when the textbooks were compiled.
Jiang Hui originally studied vehicle engineering when he was in college.
However, in the book "Auto Structure", when teaching the transmission part, everything is taught about manual transmissions, and the automatic transmission is skipped without talking about it.
The content of the automatic transmission in the textbook is also very small, and the information is also very old.
I have also been analyzing some gearboxes from Santana and Jetta.
However, at that time, most of the mainstream models on the market were equipped with automatic transmissions, and manual transmissions were becoming increasingly rare.
The contents of other modules are naturally similar.
Even at that time, the textbooks were still teaching carburetors related to everyone, and this thing was completely eliminated by the market.
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The reasons for this are naturally multifaceted.
However, from the conclusion, the various things taught by domestic universities are generally inconsistent with cutting-edge technologies in the industry, which is a common objective fact.
...
"Mr. Jiang, I heard that Nanshan Equipment and Lingnan Semiconductor are discussing the establishment of semiconductor-related majors and research institutions with Capital University of Technology Shenzhen Branch."
"Our Shenzhen University is also very interested in related scientific research in the semiconductor industry."
"If there are teachers or research institutes from other scientific research institutes in China who are willing to come to Shenzhen University to develop, we are also very welcome."
As the president of Shenzhen City University, Zhang Wei used to serve as vice president at Yenching University, so his vision was naturally not bad.
When Lingnan Semiconductor and Nanshan Equipment did not mention cooperation with universities in the past, he did not rush to talk about cooperation between the two sides.
Now that he has already made moves, he naturally doesn't want to fall behind.
"That's really great."
"We are not only entering chip production, but also preparing to enter the research on chip production equipment on a large scale."
"In order to improve our technical level as soon as possible, the number of R&D personnel required in the future will be thousands, or even tens of thousands."
Shenzhen University is willing to invest resources in this area, so Jiang Hui naturally has no reason to object.
This is good for him.
Of course, in the process of cooperation with Shenzhen City University, Lingnan Semiconductor and Nanshan Equipment must have some research funds.
This is also the reason why the other party attaches great importance to the cooperation between the two parties.
However, the investment funds for R&D projects that cooperate with universities will definitely be cheaper and more expensive than their own R&D projects.
Other people's teachers originally paid their wages, but students did not need to pay wages. It would be good if there was a little subsidy.
So in terms of human resources costs, it can be almost negligible.
They are already very happy to provide some subsidies.
Of course, this time, in order to increase the intensity of subsidies, we must increase the intensity of subsidies.
But that doesn't cost much.
"The Department of Physics of Yenching University has a relatively in-depth research on semiconductors, and has been making arrangements for this area for a long time."
"At that time, we will cooperate with Yenching University to carry out relevant scientific research as soon as possible."
Zhang Wei knew that the business of pole was not a business.
In order to prevent Shenzhen University from being too passive in its cooperation with Lingnan Semiconductor and Nanshan Equipment, he still wants to show his efforts and strength.
As the former vice president of Yenching University, he can still leverage the cooperation between the two parties.
...
"Yiming, go and connect with Lingnan Semiconductor and Nanshan Equipment to see what we can help in the development of lithography machines."
After Liu Tianwu learned that Lingnan Semiconductor and Nanshan Equipment jointly developed lithography machines, he immediately asked Yao Yiming to assist in implementing related matters.
In terms of technology, Shenzhen City has no way to provide any help.
However, Shenzhen City will definitely be able to assist in various logistics related matters.
He even wondered whether he would take this opportunity to set up a state-owned relevant research institution in Shenzhen to assist in receiving some technical personnel.
It also means that Shenzhen City supports the development of the semiconductor industry.
"No problem, I've been communicating with them these days."
"At present, Lingnan Semiconductor and Nanshan Equipment are mainly trying to find ways to poach people from the Academy of Sciences and the former photolithography machine-related research institutes under the Ministry of Electronics Industry."
"Some of these people will directly join Lingnan Semiconductor or Nanshan Equipment, some will join Shenzhen University, and some will go to Shenzhen City Branch of Capital University of Technology."
"Through these methods, the needs of different personnel can be fully met."
"However, judging from what I have found out, there are still the most people going to Lingnan Semiconductor or Nanshan equipment."
"After all, after you go there, your salary will immediately increase significantly, and you can ensure that you can get a house later."
"If you are a core technical staff or manager, you can still have the opportunity to get a car."
"Even the work arrangements of family members can be done at the same time."
"From the needs of spouses, children, and even brothers and sisters, as long as they are not outrageous, BMW Automobile Group will coordinate in a unified manner."
"This move is still very lethal."
Yao Yiming was so concerned about the actions of BMW Auto Group. It was naturally impossible for Liu Tianwu to know that he had not made any movements yet.
"It seems that Mr. Jiang is determined to vigorously develop the semiconductor industry this time."
"I heard that the equipment purchase amount of Lingnan Semiconductor's second phase factory has exceeded US$100 million."
"This is also one of the largest investment projects in China this year."
Liu Tianwu couldn't understand Jiang Hui's operations, but it did not affect his full support for Jiang Hui to do so.
After all, these practices are good news for Shenzhen City.
I beg my grandparents elsewhere, but I can’t ask for such a big project for a year.
Shencheng did nothing, and big projects flew over one after another.
No wonder in the past year, many young cadres from ministries and commissions and cadres from Lingnan Province have wanted to be transferred to Shenzhen City.
Similarly, many people in Shenzhen were promoted to Lingnan Province or ministries.
This is definitely the best gilded place in the country.
"This year, Land Rover's Highlander models are very popular, and the previous models are also performing normally."
"It is estimated that the financial situation of BMW Automobile Group will be better than last year, and the pressure on investment is not that great."
After Yao Yiming said this, Liu Tianwu suddenly thought of a news he heard, "BMW Auto Group's financial situation is very good, I completely believe it."
"But I also heard a rumor recently that BMW's branch in Polar Bear has returned from a loan to purchase a large amount of equipment and raw materials."
"The amount of this loan is very large, and I'm afraid it has exceeded US$100 million in total."
"If you have the chance, you can see if you can figure out what the story is behind this matter."
"I always find it a little strange."
There will be evil in everything.
Liu Tianwu combined his life experience to see the magical operation of BMW cars in the polar bear.
Although I am not short of money, I am taking out a large-scale loan to purchase equipment and raw materials from local areas.
There must be something behind this that I don’t understand.
"Well, I also know a little about BMW Motors going to Polar Bear to set up a branch to expand its business on a large scale."
"I will have an appointment with Chen Chenxing, who is in charge of sales business, to see if I can get some useful information."
The leader had given instructions, so Yao Yiming naturally wanted to implement them immediately.
As for what extent it can be achieved in the end, that is another question.
...
Most international semiconductor giants are not particularly concerned about the movements on Lingnan Semiconductor.
That is, relevant companies in Asia will pay more attention.
However, TSMC is an exception.
Because Lingnan Semiconductor is currently the only manufacturer in the world that is also ready to start a chip foundry business like them.
This means that in the field of chip foundry, TSMC's only current competitor is Lingnan Semiconductor.
Other semiconductor giants such as Texas Instruments, Intel, and AMD are all potential customers of TSMC.
After all, these companies now not only design their own chips, but also produce their own chips.
The semiconductor industry has been iterating very quickly in recent years, and they must have suffered a lot from constantly investing in new factories and new technologies.
Therefore, some people will definitely be interested in giving up investing in semiconductor factories and turning to professional foundry manufacturers to produce.
Especially for listed companies, this kind of improving capital utilization efficiency and reducing company debt ratio is definitely supported.
"Mr. Zhang, our people in Hong Kong City recently asked about a news in Shenzhen City. Lingnan Semiconductor seems to be cooperating with Nanshan Equipment and want to develop a lithography machine by itself."
"I think this information is definitely not a good thing for lithography equipment manufacturers such as Asmay, Canon and Nikon."
Zeng Fanchen came to Zhang Zhongmou's office with great enthusiasm and reported a relatively special message.
As Lingnan Semiconductor actively introduces 5-inch wafer equipment and 1.8-micron process chip equipment, TSMC is now paying close attention to their movements.
The company even arranged special personnel to stare at Lingnan Semiconductor and find ways to find more internal information.
These efforts naturally gain some rewards.
(This chapter ends)