Rebirth 76: Industrial Internet Empire

San Francisco Silicon Valley.

The headquarters of Shida Semiconductor Company, which had been in an empty shell, suddenly became lively during this period.

Shida Semiconductor's dozens of patent applications around immersion lithography machine technology quickly passed the formal review by the Patent and Trademark Office and entered the publicity period under the operation of Andy Investment.

As expected, Lin Benjian's patented solution for immersion lithography machines was ridiculed by almost all lithography machine companies. Even Intel, which was the first to conduct research on immersion technology, dismissed it...

In fact, these manufacturers do not think that immersion technology is useless, but leading companies such as Nikon, Canon, and Silicon Valley Lithography feel that there is no need to invest huge sums of money in disruptive innovation research and development. Only by maintaining the current status quo can they maximize their own interests. And small and medium-sized lithography machine companies are even more afraid to try disruptive innovative research and development. They may not wait until they see the dawn of success, and the company will go bankrupt because of a broken capital chain...

Under the instruction of Li Heping, the San Jose Mercury News took the opportunity to interview Nikon, Canon, and Silicon Valley lithography machine companies about immersion lithography machine technology. These leading lithography machine manufacturers almost without exception discussed immersion lithography machines. Lithography machine technology has been reduced to nothing.

...............

Binjiang District, Donghai City, Shida Semiconductor Company.

Martin van den Brink, Li Heping, and Del Prado, accompanied by Xu Guangdi, Zhang Rujing and others, visited the production line of Shida Semiconductor.

Witnessing with his own eyes the first-class manufacturing process of Shida Semiconductor, all produced by workers from mainland China, this arrogant Western European finally admitted that mainland China is capable of making the most advanced lithography machines!

Why doesn't Xu Guangdi understand what an advanced photolithography machine factory means to the East Binjiang High-tech Development Zone? Sufficient support was provided in terms of land transfer fees, tax incentives, and bank loans, and this large project with an initial investment of US$2.5 million was quickly implemented!

After the project was signed, Li Heping declined the banquet hosted by the Donghai Municipal Government.

After returning to the hotel, Li Heping asked calmly: "Have you heard about Shida Semiconductor's immersion lithography machine technology patent? What do you think?"

In terms of technology, Martin Vandenbrink had the most say. After thinking for a while, he said: "I have also learned about this immersion solution. It has certain feasibility in theory. IBM and Intel have both conducted research in this area. The results They all end in vain. Water can indeed greatly reduce the wavelength of light through refraction, but it is very difficult to implement..."

"To tell you the truth, the reason why Qianhai Asset Management suddenly acquired Asmail was because it took a fancy to this immersion lithography machine technology solution. Once successful, the lithography machines we produce will beat others. The current bottleneck of 157 nanometers has directly evolved to 132 nanometers..." Li Heping said in a deep voice.

"But as far as I know, top lithography companies including Nikon, Canon, and Silicon Valley lithography companies are not very optimistic about this technology, right?" Del Prado also said.

"Of course they don't want new disruptive technologies to emerge, so that everyone gets back to the same starting point!" Li Heping laughed.

"However, although this patented technology is still in the publicity period, it is already in the hands of the world's leading semiconductor companies. We still have to find ways to circumvent their patents. It is even more difficult to succeed! I feel that since we have decided to invest If we spend a lot of money to develop EUV technology in advance, we should continue to follow this path without any distractions!" said Martin van den Brink.

"No... EUV R&D and immersion lithography machine technology are not contradictory, and maybe they can be perfectly combined! We can convince Shida Semiconductor to use the immersion lithography machine technology patent that is in the public announcement period and part of the cash Investing in shares..." Li Heping explained.

"Mr. Li, is it possible that this immersion lithography machine technology is worthless? Are you going to let Shida use this to become a shareholder?" Del Prado questioned.

Li Heping chuckled and said: "Isn't this the same as acquiring oil fields and gold mines that have not been able to explore the reserves? What if there is a big gold mine underneath this patented technology? Let's talk about how much equity we will pay specifically. Well! More importantly, Shida Semiconductor has the most advanced chip manufacturing technology in the world. Once the research and development is successful, Shida can become a major customer of immersion lithography machines..."

Martin van den Brink asked thoughtfully: "Is this why you insist on building your new R&D center and lithography machine factory in the East China Sea?"

"This is just one of the reasons. Shida Semiconductor can try out the latest lithography machine products for us for free. The bigger reason is that the R&D costs in mainland China are low but the market is huge. We did a detailed investigation and thought To finally conquer EUV lithography technology, the amount of money invested may be an unimaginable amount. You cannot rely entirely on capital market financing. It is also important to cultivate your own hematopoietic function!" Li Heping said gushingly.

What happened next was completely beyond the imagination of Martin Vandenbrink and Del Prado!

Even the well-informed Del Prado had to lament the power of capital. Not only was Shida Semiconductor's patented technology plus cash investment negotiations extremely smooth, but also with the mediation of Qianhai Asset Management, Leica, Zeiss, Cambridge Instruments, Xi'an Many top European companies, such as Marin Integrated Circuit, have taken the initiative to express their intention to cooperate with Asmail!

...............

2001 1 Month 5 Day.

Just after the New Year's Day holiday, Zeiss, Leica, Cambridge Instruments, and Cima Integrated Circuits all arrived in the East China Sea to participate in the groundbreaking ceremony of Asmail's China branch.

Not willing to miss this opportunity, Xu Guangdi set up a special team to lobby these European precision manufacturing companies to settle in Binjiang High-tech Park. The various preferential conditions offered were almost irresistible!

The two parties were interested in each other, and soon reached an agreement on investment intentions. Leica, Zeiss, and Cambridge Instruments established R&D centers and branches in Donghai.

What surprised the Donghai media was that the Donghai Municipal Government was very low-key and did not publicize so many large projects at once...

A lithography machine industry chain built around Asmail quietly settled in Binjiang High-tech Park, which did not attract too much attention in the industry!

After all, this still belongs to the era of the three giants of Nikon, Canon, and Silicon Valley lithography. No one can break their monopoly until disruptive technologies emerge!

Asmail's newly established Asian branch temporarily rented the third phase of Shida Semiconductor's factory and built the PAS2500 lithography machine production line as quickly as possible. Subsequently, the improved PAS5500 lithography machine production line also entered customization and is waiting for installation. stage……