If you cheat, money will follow

the next day.

Chang Le, accompanied by Zeng Xi and Liang Qingsong, came to Shanghai Microelectronics.

The main reason why he came to Shanghai Microelectronics was that He Rongming told him that the company's research and development of photolithography machines had made milestone progress.

The fourth generation stepper projection lithography machine, namely a 193 nm wavelength Arf excimer laser lithography machine (DUV without immersion system), was successfully developed.

This means that the minimum process node of photolithography will be advanced to 65 nanometers.

Chang Le didn't believe it at first, or was suspicious.

In less than two years, can we jump from the third generation to the fourth generation?

Chang Le speculated that Haoda Xigong's old habit may have happened again - using imported parts to assemble.

After all, He Rongming came from the bureaucracy.

However, Hua Hong and Liang Qingsong told him that it was not a lie, but a real success in research and development.

After Shanghai Microelectronics successfully developed the Arf lithography machine, it immediately connected with Huahong Semiconductor and received verification support from Huahong Semiconductor.

The verification results show that it is successful!

Huahong Semiconductor is already preparing to purchase a batch to expand production capacity for domestic customers.

The price is 6000 million euros per unit, about 1000 million euros per unit, which is 50% cheaper than ASML.

At the entrance of Shanghai Microelectronics, He Rongming led the company's senior management to wait quietly.

When the motorcade came over, He Rongming and others immediately applauded.

This is not a form or a program.

It represents the heartfelt welcome and admiration from all colleagues of Shanghai Microelectronics.

In more than three years, hundreds of billions of special R&D funds have been poured in regardless of costs, driving the research and development of the upstream and downstream supply chains of lithography machines to go hand in hand.

Has this industry, especially the upstream supply chain companies, ever had such a comfortable fight?

Who else is it that doesn’t feel excited, emotional, or admirable?

In the past three years, the green lanterns and yellow scrolls, and the tireless work have finally ceased to be the bells in the morning and drums in the evening, and the buildings beside the road;

It is a staged achievement and a historic achievement.

The pattern, strength and vigor of Leda Investment are truly convincing.

Chang Le got off the car.

He Rongming immediately stepped forward, shook hands warmly, and his attitude was respectful enough:

"Boss, you are finally here."

"Haha, Lao He, I had to come when I heard what you said on the phone. You gave me a big surprise." Chang Le said with a smile.

"The boss made a serious statement. The breakthrough mainly depends on the support of the parent company and the concerted efforts of the suppliers." He Rongming said.

"To be modest, the efforts of management and engineers are also key factors." Chang Le said:

"Come on, take us to see your results."

"Boss, Mr. Zeng, Mr. Liang, everyone, please come here." He Rongming led everyone into the R&D building and came to the R&D workshop.

There is a huge box equipment placed in the workshop.

The device is half open, with dense wiring inside, connecting devices that are completely incomprehensible to outsiders.

At least Chang Le and Zeng Xi couldn't understand it.

"Boss, this is the fourth-generation stepping projection lithography machine we developed..." He Rongming introduced:

"It uses a 193nm arf argon fluoride excimer laser light source and can advance the process to 65nm."

"This generation of photolithography machines has basically met the needs of most semiconductor electronic products."

"Domestic independence in the true sense?" Chang Le confirmed.

"Yes! More than 10 parts of this equipment, even a screw, are provided by domestic manufacturers...

"The performance has been verified by Huahong Semiconductor and is almost the same as ASML." He Rongming said firmly.

"The success of independent research and development so quickly is due to the financial guarantee of the parent company."

“Due to adequate funding guarantees, supporting companies are highly motivated in research and development, and the performance and key indicators of the supplied products have been continuously improved, and have now basically reached the international first-class level.”

"In terms of core components, the double workbench is provided by Huazhuo Jingke, the light source is provided by Keyi Hongyuan, the exposure system is provided by Guoke, Guowang Optics provides the objective lens system, and the glazing institute provides the grating system..."

"In terms of supporting facilities, Nanda Optoelectronics supplies photoresist, Walter Gas supplies photolithography gas, China Resources Micro supplies photomasks, Oriental Crystal Source supplies defect detection systems, and Core Source Micro supplies glue and development..."

These well-known companies introduced by He Rongming have been established and set sail several years earlier than in previous generations due to the involvement of Leda Investment.

All kinds of top R&D engineers have joined in, actively connecting and voluntarily becoming the upstream and downstream supporting enterprises of Shanghai Microelectronics, accepting its R&D arrangements and dispatch.

Money can bring people together.

After listening to He Rongming's introduction, Chang Le was confused and said happily:

"Lao He, thank you for your hard work."

"The achievement of the staged goals will come earlier than I imagined..."

"My original plan was that it might take about 10 years to achieve a breakthrough."

"Under normal circumstances, this is the case." He Rongming said:

"Boss, to tell you the truth, we originally thought it would take a long time."

"It's just that after successfully developing the krf excimer lithography machine more than a year ago, we found that the research and development progress and research and development efficiency are constantly improving, and the trial and error costs are falling again and again."

"Especially, Huazhuo Jingke's double workpiece table, according to them, is on the right track in almost every step."

Liang Qingsong continued this topic:

"Boss, Huahong's research and development is also going very smoothly."

"After taking over the photolithography machine of Shanghai Microelectronics, during the verification process, the success rate of the 65-nanometer SOC chip was as high as 90% in one taping..."

“It saves a lot of R&D time and costs, and greatly increases the enthusiasm of R&D personnel.”

After listening to the introduction, Chang Le smiled and said:

"It seems that God can't stand it anymore and has begun to take pity on us. Let us take as few detours as possible."

Zeng Xi said: "This is how God rewards hard work."

Everyone present laughed.

He Rongming said: "Yes, God rewards hard work. The successful development of DUV lithography machine gives us confidence. As long as we persevere, we can definitely smooth out the generation gap."

"The gap between us and ASML lithography machines exists objectively, but at least it is not a desperate gap of 30 or 40 years."

"We hope that within 10 years, we can basically eliminate the generation gap and make everyone on equal footing."

Liang Qingsong said: "Actually, we also have an advantage, that is, we follow the trajectory of ASML. We don't have to cross the river by feeling for stones, and the cost of trial and error is minimized."

Chang Le nodded: "They are all very good. If everyone has such a consensus, it means that we have the same understanding and actions, and we are on the right path."

"A great man once said that the great pass is like iron, but now we are crossing it from the beginning. As long as we think in one place and work hard in one place, we will definitely achieve success."

Shanghai Microelectronics Canteen.

Everyone gathers for a casual meal - a buffet.

On the long table, Chang Le saw hundreds of dishes scattered in order, covering various flavors from the southeast to the northwest.

Chang Le said: "Old He, you didn't launch a surprise attack."

He Rongming shook his head: "Boss, don't worry, there is absolutely no surprise attack."

"I personally inspected the canteens, and also led a team to visit the canteens of the parent company and Leda Automobile to inspect them."

"Let's put it this way, Shanghai Microelectronics' cafeteria should be no worse than that of the parent company."

"Because we have set up a class of chefs with high salaries, they cook in different ways every day."

"What you see now are the daily standards of ordinary engineers. During holidays, the chef class will also perform beyond their standards."

Chang Le said: "That's good. Research and development work consumes a lot of brain power and energy. Nutrition must be guaranteed, and funds must not be saved."

Then, He Rongming talked about the next step of R&D focus.

"Next we will focus on the immersion stepper projection lithography machine, which is arfi lithography."

"Currently, there is good news from our supplier Kaier Motor..."

"Their liquid immersion system can already control the high-precision liquid temperature difference to 0.001 degrees. The component test is progressing very smoothly and will be supplied to us soon."

"Once the independent Arfi lithography machine is successfully developed, the generation gap between us and European and American lithography giants will be reduced to less than 10 years, with only one generation gap."

"This is not a despairing divide."

Arfi lithography and arf lithography have the same origin, both are deep ultraviolet DUV lithography machines.

The difference is that the former has an additional immersion system.

Through this system, the space between the lens and the silicon wafer is immersed in liquid. Under the action of light refraction by the liquid, the actual wavelength of the laser can be greatly shortened.

That is, 193 nanometers is equivalently shortened to 134 nanometers.

Thus, the 7-45nm process is realized.

At this point, at least within 10 years, it will become the mainstream of most semiconductor products.

After listening to the introduction, Chang Le asked: "How long will it take for the research and development to be successful..."

He Rongming said: "If it goes well, it should be put on the market within three years. If it doesn't go well, it is difficult to estimate the time."

Chang Le immediately raised his glass: "Okay, let's wish the research and development success together!"

"cheers!"

"cheers!"