novelones Chapter 171 Milestone, the first 1nm lithography machine in prehistory!
Chapter 171 Milestone, the first 1nm lithography machine in prehistory!
"Boss, we have just developed the pas5500 lithography machine...is it too early to launch it?"
“It’s not too early at all. The lithography machine industry requires continuous investment in money. As long as the research and development pace is stopped for a moment, it will be eliminated by the entire market.
We have to invest exponentially in the research and development of next-generation lithography machines. With Peninsula’s current profitability, it is very difficult to independently bear the research and development expenses. "
In Wang Lei's expectation, once the PAS5500 is released, it will quickly occupy the lithography machine market. Orders from Samsung and TSMC will continue to flow to Peninsula Technology. By then, it will be easy to go public and raise tens of billions of funds.
Qiu Mingxiang couldn't help but interrupt Wang Lei's thoughts:
"Boss, our first priority now is to get the first order."
"Yeah, we have to take the first step."
Peninsula Technology is still a new player in lithography machines and is still an unknown player in the entire semiconductor market.
It is not a trivial matter for major semiconductor manufacturers to change partners.
The first thing they have to do is promote their products.
"Send invitations to industry giants. Just say that we have manufactured the latest generation of lithography machines and invite them to visit."
"Those friendly businessmen will also send invitations, and I plan to officially establish our leading position at the exhibition."
Qiu Mingxiang nodded and said he would prepare immediately.
At this time, Byers woke up leisurely, and he immediately realized that the person who was being admired by the stars was Wang Lei, the boss behind Peninsula.
"Mr. Wang, are you here?"
"Byers, you have done a good job. I have decided to officially promote you to the technical general consultant of Peninsula Technology. The salary will be increased by 50%. You will decide the rewards of your team members."
Byers was wrapped in a huge surprise. As the person in charge of the R&D project, his salary was already at the top level in the industry when he was hired.
Such a salary increase immediately made this foreign expert want to die for his confidant.
He traveled across the ocean and came to Hong Kong City not just to earn more US dollars.
Wang Lei patted him on the shoulder:
"Salary increase and promotion are just the beginning. After the mass production of pas5500, I will also give you a huge reward at the end of the year."
"You can mention anything you are not used to in your life to me face to face."
Byers shook his head hastily: "We are all satisfied with our current lives."
Peninsula Technology treats technical talents very well. Each expert engineer will receive a small villa, as well as a dedicated driver for pick-up and drop-off.
Although they knew this was a way for the company to win people's hearts, many people were deeply moved.
"The 5500 you developed is indeed very advanced and can be used for chip manufacturing from 70nm to 2mm."
Speaking of this, Byers is also very proud. The pas5500 is the most advanced lithography machine in the world and can meet the various needs of large integrated circuits.
Byers emphasized:
"Boss, the 5500 is more advanced than that. It is also the world's first removable lithography machine."
He personally showed Wang Lei some disassembly and assembly operations.
They divided the lithography machine into ten modules, and each module can be assembled separately.
In this way, no matter which part has a problem, it can continue to work by replacing it with a new module part.
Wang Lei and all the executives realized that this would be a very important point to impress semiconductor manufacturers.
In the past, damage to the lithography machine meant that a production line was shut down, and the manufacturer needed to send repair engineers to repair it. Work could not be resumed until it was completely repaired.
The biggest problem faced by semiconductor manufacturers is often production capacity, and time is life for them.
A detachable lithography machine can solve many productivity problems.
Under the stimulation of money, Byers proactively proposed:
"Boss, what we have to solve now is the order problem. Only with orders can the production line operate at full capacity.
We can try to talk to the giant IBM. They have publicly stated that they will cooperate with whoever is the first to produce more sophisticated lithography equipment. "
Qiu Mingxiang also knew about this and explained:
"IBM was the first to announce in 89 that they had successfully manufactured chips on 8-inch wafers, and the process would be as fine as 365nm. Their president called on lithography machine manufacturers to develop higher-precision lithography equipment.
And it is publicly guaranteed that whoever builds it first, IBM will give priority to purchase their lithography machines! "
Wang Lei's eyes lit up. He was looking for someone to sell the lithography machine to. Didn't the buyer just come?
"At this exhibition, we must invite people from IBM to observe and learn. You must know that the accuracy of our photolithography machine has been improved to 70nm!"
Far exceeds the 365nm required by IBM.
Wang Lei was looking forward to seeing the surprised and stunned eyes of a group of foreigners.
Several people couldn't help but smile at each other.
"Boss, as long as we win IBM, our market share can be increased to 5%!"
Seeing that Byers was a little distracted, Wang Lei still couldn't help but said:
"Byers, although we have manufactured lithography equipment that far exceeds that of our peers, we are far from being careless. We must increase the wavelength of the light source to 157nm as soon as possible!"
The upgrade of lithography machine technology can be simply seen as an upgrade of the wavelength of the light source.
Support technological progress to the next generation by using more advanced exposure light sources.
In order to pursue higher resolution, the light source wavelength has changed from the original 365nm, to 248nm, and then to the 5500nm used by pas193 today.
According to Wang Lei’s understanding of the development process of lithography machines, it is not the most difficult step to evolve from 248nm to 193nm.
In a few years, Nikon, Canon, and GCA from Beautiful China will all reach this point.
The most difficult thing is to upgrade to 157nm technology.
All the big manufacturers are stuck at this step.
Whoever takes this step first will establish a superpower structure and become the dominant player in the lithography machine industry.
Byers did not expect that Wang Lei would be so ambitious. He had just completed the technology upgrade and began to think about the next generation of lithography machines.
"Don't worry, no matter how many difficulties you encounter in research and development, I will fully support your research and development!"
When he said this, Wang Lei's thoughts drifted to TSMC.
There is a dragon-born scientist there, who can be called a "genius" in semiconductors.
It was he who proposed a bolder concept - immersion!
He creatively proposed using water as the exposure medium. The light source wavelength was still the original 193nm, but through the refraction of water, the wavelength entering the photoresist was reduced to 134nm.
In the previous dry method, air was used as the exposure medium.
The difference between them is the refractive index. The refractive index of the 193nm light source in air is 1, and the refractive index in water is 1.4.
This means that under the same light source conditions, the resolution of the immersion lithography machine can be increased by 1.4 times.