Chapter 293 Plan C after Plan B failed
"Yuan Guang, we need your help. After getting the news, we increased imports from Dow Chemical and Sumitomo Chemical, hoping to block the Before the announcement, the reserve of new photoresists needed for the next three years was completed. But the frustration was that they refused to increase exports at that time, and the actual stop of exports was faster than expected. "Liang Mengsong. With a sad face, the 74-year-old has been semi-retired since last year.
Main completely retired and he couldn’t stay idle.
Especially today with the rapid development of Dongda chips, an engineer who has devoted his life to chip research and development simply cannot bear this moment when he cannot personally participate in it.
Therefore, he only took a back seat on the surface, but in fact he was still heavily involved in actual work.
“Aren’t you also supporting manufacturers such as Nanda Optoelectronics, Tongcheng New Materials, and Feikai New Materials at the same time?
Even if the yield rate is slightly lower, they should be able to catch up, right?” Chen Yuanguang looked at it Looking at the elderly senior in front of him, he thought that the other party had not thought of this, so he reminded him.
It’s okay not to mention it, but Liang Mengsong’s eyebrows almost knitted together when he mentioned it:
“Stop talking about it, they thought they would never have a chance to become a full-time employee, good news keeps coming, this After Sumitomo and Dow announced that they would not sell photoresist to us, we increased our communication with these companies and asked them to provide us with samples for testing no matter what.
The products they provided were not satisfactory at all. It was not a problem of poor yield, but simply did not meet the requirements.
Yuan Guang, you also know that topological semimetal is a new type of material that is completely different from silicon-based.
In addition to photosensitivity, the photoresist used for topological semi-metal recording also needs to have the functions of hydrogen evolution and carbon dioxide reduction. ”
This is because the excellent electronic conductivity and charge carrier mobility of topological semimetals lead to the existence of a state called a topological electronic state, which exists between this state and photoresist activity.
To this day, condensed matter physicists have not understood the physical and chemical reaction mechanism.
Sumitomo Chemical and Dow Chemical started related research around 2013 and invented related new materials.
If this type of material is used on traditional silicon-based chips, the effect is not good, and the cost is very high.
But it is just right when applied to topological semimetals.
With the large-scale mass production of topological semi-metals in the past few years, this type of material has been iterated, reducing costs and indirectly improving the stability and accuracy of recording.
Everyone knows very well that companies that rely on American and Neon for such key materials are not a long-term solution.
Dow Chemical is an Amerikan company and Sumitomo Chemical is a Neon company.
The two can be seen as one.
One side is disconnected and the other side cannot be connected.
In order to maintain a balance, Dongda always purchased goods from two manufacturers at the same time.
This strategy is commercially sound and prevents suppliers from monopolizing core components.
But when geopolitical factors emerge, economic factors can be ignored.
Sumitomo Chemical and Dow Chemical made the same decision.
But the plan B prepared by Dongda University is simply impossible to implement. Putting aside the cost, it cannot even be done if it can be put to use.
For Dongda, low yield rate is not a problem. It can catch up sooner or later with technological iteration.
Just like the double exposure technology of mate60, it has been unanimously sentenced to death and eliminated by global chip manufacturers in terms of yield rate and technical prospects. For them, not only must they be able to eat well, but they must also be able to Eat well.
For Huawei, this is thirst-quenching and life-saving technology. I have to let myself survive first. It doesn’t matter whether this technology will be eliminated or whether it has inevitable flaws.
I just didn’t expect that they would not live up to expectations at all.
“We shouldn’t have repeatedly emphasized it at that time. Although they were alternatives, as long as they could make photoresists that met the requirements, we would definitely use them?” Chen Yuanguang said he couldn’t understand.
Photoresist is also a huge market. Dongda chip manufacturers, led by SMIC, will naturally give preferential treatment to Dongda companies.
Even if the quality of Dongda Enterprise’s products is not good enough.
In Chen Yuanguang's view, I told you that the gold mine is just ahead, but you don't go mining?
“There are many complicated reasons.
American and Neon should have been preparing from a very early stage.
First of all, because Dow Chemical and Sumitomo Chemistry has adopted two different technical routes and has built a complete patent wall.
It is not easy for Dongda companies to bypass the patent wall and develop new photoresists that meet the requirements. " Liang Mengsong explained.
"Didn't we say at the time, don't worry about the patents and just follow their technical routes? But now, we still don't care whether the technology is infringing.
They don't export photoresist to us. We are domestically Wouldn't it be better if we didn't recognize their technology patents?
Besides, we only developed photoresists based on their principles.
Aren't all foreign semiconductor companies studying our topological semi-conductors? What is the principle and process of metal synthesis?
There are no less than three spying incidents that have reached my ears. They don’t respect patents. These photoresist companies have lost their intellectual property rights. Is the protection brainwashed into stupidity? ”
Chen Yuanguang is indeed a little angry because they have been preparing for future disconnection from day one.
Almost all key components of semiconductors upstream and downstream have plan B.
Several companies are selected for each plan B.
These B-plan companies, large and small, are the biggest source of confidence for Dongda University to reject unreasonable foreign demands.
As a result, you are stuck in the field of photoresist alone.
How to play this?
Chen Yuanguang naturally thought of this sentence: When you find a cockroach in the room, it means there is a nest of cockroaches in the room.
The photoresist field is facing such a dilemma, what about other fields?
These plans B have been prepared for nearly three years. Now even the most basic laboratory products cannot be produced. What should we do in other fields?
“Yuan Guang, I have discussed this in detail with the management of each of them before coming to see you.
What we thought at the time was right, this was a big piece of cake, and after achieving technological breakthroughs, they would be able to eat this piece of cake smoothly. Why they want to bypass the patents of Sumitomo and Dow is because there are many companies in our plan B. As long as there are companies related to the photoresist business, we have contacts and maintain long-term communication.
They all believe that only by bypassing the patents of Sumitomo and Dow can they get the biggest share of the cake. ”
Because Dongda’s chip business is divided into exports and to meet domestic demand, it is no problem to use the patents of Dow and Sumitomo to sell domestically, but if it wants to export, it will definitely encounter long-arm jurisdiction and be prohibited from exporting.
So for these companies that may compete in the new photoresist market, they want to capture the largest market, not just the domestic market of Dongda.
"Don't they know that whoever makes a usable photoresist first will have an advantage on the original technical route?
I can understand that they want more markets and can completely replace Sumitomo and The problem with Tao's idea is that it's equally important to eat the cake first." Chen Yuanguang scratched his head. He felt that the brain circuits of these companies were really strange.
“Originally, this is true. These companies are all listed companies. They are not short of funds, especially in promising directions such as new photoresists. It is easy for these companies to raise funds in the market.
They are not short of money, and they have opened up two technical routes at the same time. One is to conduct research and development along the technical routes of Dow or Sumitomo, and the other route is to bypass their patent wall, completely Self-research.
Since the second half of last year, countries led by Western University have gradually lowered their recruitment thresholds and even sent people to recruit at Eastern University.
These companies are rich, but the salaries offered to R&D personnel are not high. Even senior researchers earn only more than 300,000 RMB in Shenhai, which is only about 60,000 US dollars in U.S. dollars.
This group of people faced targeted poaching from Western University and Neon, and a large number of R&D personnel left.
At that time, companies from Western University collectively came to Dongda to recruit. These recruitments were not eye-catching. In the field of photoresist itself, Dongda companies not only did not lead, but fell behind, so this incident did not cause any concern. It was such a turmoil that the relevant parties did not stop it.
Looking back now, this is a joint effort between Western University and Neon to deliberately interrupt Dongda’s development in the field of new photoresist.
After these companies faced collective poaching, the entire research and development came to a standstill and has not recovered until now.
Because there are only a limited number of Dongda people doing relevant research and development, most of them have been poached, and Xida and Neon have offered very favorable conditions.
It is difficult to pull up the team in a short period of time.
In short, there are many complex factors that have caused the current situation. Corporate greed, competitors' poaching, Dongda's own stinginess, and insufficient attention to R&D itself. Various factors have caused this current situation.
Relevant parties are still investigating. The news I got before coming to Mianyang is that all companies related to Plan B are facing varying degrees of poaching. ”
Send troops to attack.
From the Cold War to today’s strategic planners at Western University, their plans are always interconnected.
Although it may be limited by the different thinking of presidents from different factions, which may lead to short-term chaos, they can always create trouble for their competitors in this chaos.
The essence behind it is that the advantages accumulated over the past few decades are too huge.
Just like netizens jokingly call their hands full of cards, the problem is that their hands are really full of cards. These cards are not fatal, but they are enough to make you uncomfortable.
Before this change, Amerikan wanted to completely lock down Dongda’s development in the semiconductor field.
Dongda’s self-media will say that Dongda has a market of 1.4 billion people and will be able to catch up sooner or later.
This kind of statement ignores how much cost you can bear, whether the market of 1.4 billion people is really big, whether Dongda can really do whatever it takes, and whether the R&D and innovation capabilities of Dongda alone can exceed All developed countries combined and so on.
There is also the technical route. Will the technical route that Dongda is forced to choose will be better than the technical route that will be developed after full competition in the market?
These are all unknowns.
It is true that China has a market of 1.4 billion, but there are 6.6 billion people besides China. Western University can have this remaining market.
Even if you don’t count the countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, there are still 1 billion people who have benefited from the world system built by Western University.
And these 1 billion people can continue to siphon the elites from the remaining 7 billion people into themselves. However, Dongda is facing the problem of aging population and its attitude towards accepting immigrants is also extremely conservative.
Therefore, from Washington's perspective, it is inevitable for Tokyo University to produce chips that meet basic needs, but in the chip field, the probability of surpassing the chip4 alliance is infinitely zero.
So the definition of victory has led to huge differences in how different people view this matter.
What the decision-makers in Washington saw was that Tokyo University would never be able to catch up with its own technology, and would naturally lag behind in the field of artificial intelligence. People like Bill Gates who were pessimistic about this strategy Entrepreneurs saw that Western University handed over a 1.4 billion chip market to Eastern University companies for no reason. This was a huge economic loss.
It's just that the emergence of topological semi-metal has completely invalidated Washington's strategy. China has surpassed them. The consequence of the strategy's failure is that not only has China surpassed them in the field of artificial intelligence, but even companies from Malaysia have surpassed them. The giant of Western University lost all face.
Google is an out-and-out American giant, while the artificial intelligence companies from Malaysia are more like Don Quixote.
No one believed that Don Quixote could bleed giants, let alone twenty years ago, even ten years ago.
But the reality is that such a dramatic scene happened. Alpha left Google helpless. The giant continued to bleed, and Don Quixote continued to grow. He even changed the direction of his sword and pointed it at another person. A giant named Amazon.
This is the current reality. The current reality makes Western University feel uncomfortable and even afraid.
Even if immigrants from the Eastern University return to China to start businesses with the technology learned from the Western University in the future, they will have to adopt this method that may exhaust their efforts, at least for the moment, to prevent the advancement and upgrading of China's technology and industry.
From a macro level, this is exchanging future time for present space.
As for the future? We can only place our hope on the country's technology giants to be the first to achieve technological breakthroughs and to be the first to reach the technological singularity in the field of artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence can help them gain time and space at the same time.
If you only look at modern history, why would you think Germany dares to gamble with its small territory and population? But if you push history forward and lengthen it, you will find that Western countries are quite fond of gambling.
Only this time, Western University has embarked on a new gamble, exchanging time for space and integrating the power of the entire developed world.
"Okay, okay." Chen Yuanguang said two sentences in a row.
Just when Liang Mengsong thought that Chen Yuanguang had nothing to do and was about to comfort each other, Chen Yuanguang rubbed his face and said, "Fortunately, we have plan C."
(End of this chapter)