The flowers in the factory of rebirth are too fierce

"One is money, the other is technology." Director Han said without hesitation, "Photolithography machines are too expensive. The funding is calculated in tens of millions. With the current operating conditions of subordinate enterprises, they certainly cannot support such a large expenditure. At that time, we talked about the national system, concentrating the national strength to launch a major battle. At that time, intellectuals were also simple, and they only talked about giving without asking for returns. But now it is different. In a commercial society, without money, who will do research with you? But you can't blame the young people nowadays. Scientists also need to eat, and they also have families..." Director Han was in a very low mood.

"Money! This is indeed a big problem." Lin Zhiyuan nodded, "But Director Han, you don't have to be so pessimistic. The Music Garden product is already profitable. Conservative estimates show that the profit of the first batch of products is $100 million. The money earned in the future will definitely be more."

Music Garden only produced 10,000 units of its first batch of products, each priced at US$399, while the cost was compressed to less than US$110. Excluding the initial promotion costs, shipping costs and the share paid to Best Buy, a net profit of US$100 per unit could still be guaranteed.

Director Han did not show any surprise. He nodded and said, "I know. When Old Wu came last time, he said that this product is very profitable. But even so, it is not enough."

"Director Han, I will find a way to solve the money problem. I worked in a company before I joined the ministry. I will see if I can get some sponsorship or set up a lithography machine project fund to absorb some social donations. Old predecessors, you developed the lithography machine under such difficult circumstances back then. Now that our country's economic conditions are better, you should have more advantages." Lin Zhiyuan took a deep breath, "Old predecessors, as long as we are willing to work hard, any difficulty will not be a difficulty."

Director Han was obviously moved by Lin Zhiyuan's words. "Assistant Lin, this is right. We Shenzhou people believe that one person can conquer nature. Well, since you are so confident, I will risk my life to help our country realize the dream of lithography machines."

"By the way, old man, in addition to the problem of money, you also mentioned the problem of technology. What are the shortcomings of our country?"

"Assistant Lin, when it comes to technology, I have to talk about the development history and types of photolithography machines. In the 60s, contact photolithography technology appeared, and all photolithography machines at that time used this technology. In the 70s, proximity photolithography technology was widely used. In the mid-to-late 70s, projection photolithography technology appeared. As the size of integrated circuits continued to shrink, step-and-repeat photolithography technology with a reduced magnification appeared..."

"The strongest country in the world in producing photolithography machines is Dongsang. Have you heard of Nikon? Our country has been stuck at the 193nm indicator for many years, while Nikon has now adopted the 157nm f2 laser, which is at least years ahead of us." Director Han's mood was low again. Although he has been retired for ten years, he still pays attention to the changes in the field of photolithography machines internationally and insists on subscribing to foreign science and technology magazines at his own expense.

Lin Zhiyuan was stunned. "Dongsang Country, their lithography machine is the most powerful? Isn't it ASML?"

"ASML?" Director Han was also stunned. "Are you talking about the company in Windmill Country? When did they become the strongest? No, absolutely not." Director Han shook his head repeatedly.

Lin Zhiyuan was a little confused.

Is this world different from the one I originally lived in?

It was not until Director Han introduced the ups and downs of several giants in the field of lithography that Lin Zhiyuan realized that ASML, the king of lithography machines in the later period, was not so strong at the beginning. In the 80s, the leader of lithography machines was GCA of the United States. But GCA declined rapidly in the mid-80s.

The final factor that led to the failure of GCA at that time was mainly Zeiss's G-line lens, a serious problem of light drift. Everything was fine at the beginning, but as the lithography machine ran for a longer time, the image quality would deteriorate. Because of the rush to deliver lithography machines to customers, GCA did not check the lenses before installing them on the machines, which led to GCA delivering hundreds of lithography machines with faulty lenses, and Zeiss knew nothing about the problem for many years, and less than 10% of the lenses were sent back for repair.

The bigger problem is that GCA's lithography machines cannot automatically correct such errors, and engineers do not know the exact cause of the problem.

At this point, an incremental innovation emerged. GCA competitor Nikon managed to improve the focusing system of the lithography machine. Nikon in turn developed a G-line eyepiece with a larger numerical aperture, and this combination enabled Nikon's system to more clearly image tiny patterns onto thin layers of photoresist.

This incremental innovation brought great success to Nikon, and it also made Nikon and Canon the kings of lithography machines throughout the 90s.

At that time, ASML was still a second-rate company in Europe and was not well known to most people.

Director Han was quite talkative today. He had been explaining the development history, types and technologies of photolithography machines to Lin Zhiyuan since 10 a.m. He even refilled the tea twice, which made Secretary Huang feel sleepy.

It was almost time for lunch, and Secretary Huang thought that after listening to the mysterious book for the whole morning, it was finally time to end it. However, he was also full of admiration for Lin Zhiyuan.

Assistant Lin is really interested in lithography machines! Otherwise, how could he listen to this for so long without getting bored?

Director Han's wife walked in and said, "Old Han, it's noon now. Can you invite us to have a simple meal at home?"

Director Han then realized that it was already 12 o'clock. He smiled embarrassedly, "Look at me, I forget the time when I talk about my major. Assistant Lin, Xiao Huang, you can have a simple meal at my house, and then we can continue our discussion."

Secretary Huang took a deep breath. We are still chatting after dinner?

Lin Zhiyuan stood up. Secretary Huang was delighted and thought, is it time to say goodbye?

But Lin Zhiyuan said something that completely broke him down. "Director Han, Auntie, it's too troublesome to eat at home. How about this? I'll invite you two out for dinner and we can continue our conversation at the dinner table. I love listening to Director Han talk about lithography machines so much. I can't get enough of it."

Director Han was delighted. "It's fine to go out for dinner. We really haven't prepared anything at home. But it's agreed that I'll treat you and you're all guests."

"No, you are my elder, I have to treat you." Under Lin Zhiyuan's insistence, Director Han had no choice but to nod in agreement, but the old man had his own opinion, "Assistant Lin, it's not that I have to eat your meal, I'm just in the mood today. I can't say these things to others normally, and meeting you today, I feel like I've found a confidant."

Lin Zhiyuan smiled and said, "It is my honor to listen to the teachings of my predecessors."