Super Copy of Great Power Technology

"You kid, you are so out of touch when you talk to the teacher. Be careful, I will fail your class at the end of the semester." Zhou Wanda is a very curious person. Now that he has not received an answer to the question he asked, it makes him scratch his heart. Feeling uncomfortable, I couldn't help but threaten him. Zhou Wanda is a professor of integrated circuits at Peking University. This semester, he is responsible for teaching a professional course in Qiao Ruida's class. Qiao Ruida often skipped classes and was often absent during roll call. If the professional teacher used this as a reason to let him fail the class, no one would be able to fault him.

Hearing the threat from Zhou Wanda, Qiao Ruida immediately surrendered, "No, Teacher Zhou, Professor Zhou, how can you, such a tolerant person, have the same knowledge as me and let me fail the exam? Teacher Zhou, don't you just want to know What is pulled on the car behind? Let me tell you, what is pulled on that car is an EUV lithography machine. Because the equipment is too precise, vibration, or drastic changes in temperature and humidity may affect it. To ensure the machining accuracy, anti-shock measures were installed on the vehicles and air conditioners were installed on the containers to ensure constant temperature and humidity in the internal environment.”

"What, did I hear you right? You actually got an EUV lithography machine! How is this possible? Even ASML, the international lithography machine giant, only has test prototypes and nothing for mass production. You kid? How did you get it?" The information Qiao Ruida said was so shocking that Zhou Wanda, who was sitting in the back seat, exclaimed. The calm temperament cultivated by being a professor and doing scientific research was gone.

"Hey, hey, I'm sorry, Mr. Zhou, the source of this EUV lithography machine really cannot be disclosed to the outside world, otherwise the supply channel will be exposed, and you will never get the goods next time. You are also engaged in chips, It should be clear that these high-end lithography machines are embargoed to mainland China." In fact, this EUV lithography machine was copied by Qiao Ruida through Golden Finger, and its origin was originally shady. Zhou Wanda asked about it now , I can only make up a mysterious supplier to deal with it.

"So that's it. You are really awesome. You can develop new equipment that is still in the testing stage. I won't ask about channels. See if you can help Peking University chip experiments through your connections. We also have an EUV lithography machine in the office, and you can drive it as much as you want." Zhou Wanda rubbed his hands and looked expectantly at Qiao Ruida who was driving.

As a chip manufacturing technology researcher, Zhou Wanda is very aware of the power of EUV lithography machines. Currently, the mainstream immersion DUV lithography machine on the market has a conventional processing accuracy of 28nm. Even if overlaying, multiple exposure and other processes are used, the processing accuracy of DUV lithography machines can be increased to up to 7nm, and there will be many shortcomings such as cumbersome steps, difficult processing, and low yield rate. If you have an EUV lithography machine, it will be completely different. Because EUV uses extreme ultraviolet light to process silicon wafers, the processing accuracy can be very small, starting with 7nm. It has fast processing speed, high yield, With other advantages, the chips produced have powerful performance and low heat generation. In the future, some other processes will be used to process 5nm, 3nm, or even 2nm chips, which is definitely the development direction of chip processing in the future.

"Hey, Teacher Zhou, you haven't seen the actual EUV lithography machine, and you haven't conducted any tests. Why are you so optimistic about this lithography machine and want to buy one at any cost?" This model of EUV lithography machine Qiao Ruida tested its performance in the dimensional space, and only then did she know how powerful it was. Zhou Wanda has never done any testing, and has never even seen what this EUV lithography machine looks like. It is really strange that he wants to spend money to buy it so decisively.

Zhou Wanda smiled and told some inside information that Qiao Ruida didn't know, "Hey, isn't this a happy sight? EUV lithography machine, such a high-end equipment, only ASML can produce it in the world, and There are only a few prototypes, which have not yet been mass-produced and delivered. If our chip laboratory at Peking University can get one, even if it cannot be used for mass production of chips, it will only be used for tape-out testing of cutting-edge chips and chip processing technology below 7nm. The exploration has also made a lot of money.

You have seen the chip production line in our chip laboratory at Peking University. They are all old things from five years ago. Even though we have done a lot of transformation and upgrading, the production of 40nm chips is already at its limit, and there is no longer any. What potential can be tapped. Moreover, there are many defects such as high production cost and low qualification rate. As early as last year, my teacher and I participated in the installation and debugging of the chip production line of your Reda Electronics Factory. At that time, we were envious when we saw your immersion DUV lithography machine and supporting production line. After returning to school, my teacher wrote a report and applied for funding to upgrade the production line of the chip laboratory.

However, the cost of this equipment upgrade is too high, and some core equipment is not easy to buy. The application report has been stuck in the superior organization for a year, and it was only recently approved. Originally, when I came to Decheng City with you this time, I wanted to ask you to help purchase a few DUV lithography machines and etching equipment. I didn't expect that you could even get a more advanced EUV lithography machine. With EUV here, who needs to lag behind DUV? Don’t you think so? "

"I see, it's not impossible to buy you an EUV lithography machine, but the price of this thing is not cheap. You have to be prepared. I don't know if your laboratory has so much money." Qiao Ruida pondered for a while, Finally, a positive answer was given. There are very few chip design companies and scientific research institutes in China, and even fewer units engaged in research and development of advanced chip manufacturing processes. With the establishment of Rockchip's wafer fab, the improvement of chip qualification rate and the pursuit of advanced process technology will not stop. At that time, there will be a lot of cooperation with Peking University's chip laboratory. At the same time, Peking University can also provide Rockchip Wafer Factory with a large number of high-end talents in the chip field. Now, at the risk of cheating being exposed, selling them an EUV lithography machine can be regarded as an early investment to support the alma mater.

"The most advanced DUV lithography machine in the world costs 500 to 600 million yuan. Is the price of EUV lithography machine even more expensive?" When it comes to price, Zhou Wanda really has no idea. After all, it has been approved by the higher authorities. His funds are limited, and he doesn’t know if he can afford an EUV lithography machine.

"What you said is so new. A DUV lithography machine that produces 28nm chips costs about 6. An EUV lithography machine that can produce 7nm chips is more expensive than a DUV lithography machine. No. Is this normal? I won’t hide it from you. I spent 10 billion to buy the EUV lithography machine in the truck behind me, not counting channel fees and shipping costs.” (End of Chapter)