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Chapter 1373 Silicon Valley (First update, please subscribe)
More than a decade ago, in the laboratory of the Department of Physics at Taiping University, Matare invented the transistor.

It was from that day that mankind entered a new era. At that time, no one knew what kind of changes the transistor and the subsequent invention of the integrated circuit would bring to human civilization.

But it was also on that day, here, that the butterfly flapped its wings.

Yongning is the sixth largest city - it used to be the fifth largest, but with the rise of Dongning, it was squeezed down one place. The old name here was "Pontianak". The city is located at the mouth of the Kun River. This city, where the equator passes through the city, has always been mainly exporting agricultural and forestry products. Bird's nest is also a well-known product here.

In the past decade or so, this place has developed rapidly like other places in NBC. Modern industries such as textile industry, machinery manufacturing, and metallurgy have become the local economic pillars. There is even a steel company under construction in the north of the city. This steel company is not only the first large-scale steel company in southwestern NBC, but also the most modern. After all, it uses the most advanced steel smelting technology.

However, Yongning’s most famous company is “YN·Zeiss”, or Yongning Zeiss. This optical company, which has developed with equipment dismantled from Zeiss, hired engineers and skilled technology, has not only been known as the “Three Major Zeiss” together with West German Zeiss and East German Zeiss, but the company has also been further developed here.

But apart from that, Yongning... is basically the same as Zhongxing and Yongding, a place with little presence. After all, it is just an "equator city" with a population of only 700 million.

Except that half of the population lives outside the main urban area on both sides of Kunjiang River, like other places in NBC, many people live in nearby satellite cities. The so-called satellite cities are roughly cities within 60 kilometers radiating from the main urban area. Those cities vary in size, like scattered stars, surrounding the main city.

The satellite cities are connected to the main urban area by roads and urban railways. Although NBC's road transportation and automobile industry are very developed, the urban railway is the most convenient transportation between satellite cities. Its operating speed exceeds 150 kilometers per hour. Each urban railway consists of three carriages, which is half the length of a subway train and can accommodate about 600 passengers.

Although most people live and work not far from each other, millions of people travel to various places via urban rail every day. There are not many such commuters, but there are quite a few.

As in the past, Xiao Mingjie came to the light rail platform carrying a briefcase, passed the ticket check and entered the carriage. After a while, the train started again. As the train accelerated, the palm trees on both sides of the railway line kept moving backwards in his sight.

Xiao Mingjie was sitting in the carriage, flipping through a magazine. Suddenly, a piece of information in the magazine caught his attention - Professor Harold from the Department of Chemical Engineering of Fu Jen Catholic University successfully produced high-purity silicon with a refined purity of 99.99999999.

"That is 7N grade ultra-pure silicon..."

As a transistor expert, Xiao Mingjie immediately realized the significance of this ultra-pure silicon for integrated circuits. Single-crystal silicon material for etching is the core material for producing silicon electrodes. Its product quality and stability directly affect the operation of etching equipment and the stability and yield of semiconductor product quality.

"If Yonghe Materials can solve the problem of industrial application, the chip yield rate will definitely be improved by a certain level, and its price will definitely be reduced by then."

Although Yanan Electronics, which Xiao Mingjie runs, is also an integrated circuit production and design company, he does not mind the price drop of integrated circuits, because only by bringing down the price can the integrated circuit consumer market flourish. In fact, in the past decade or so, it is precisely because of the popularity of transistors and the production and consumption market of integrated circuits that the NBC electronics industry has developed greatly - the semiconductor market has provided funds for the specialization of the semiconductor supply chain, giving rise to professional companies in various fields from ultra-pure silicon wafers to photolithography machines.

Because there is a consumer market, there is a willingness to reinvest. More than a decade ago, Xiao Mingjie, who was an assistant to Professor Matare at Taiping University and participated in the invention of the transistor, relied on this wave to obtain venture capital and founded "Yanan Electronics".

In fact, he was not the only one. The assistants of Matare when he developed the transistor, including Zhu Ruixin and Xiao Peiwu, who were called the "Three Heroes of Taiping" together with him, all founded their own companies and chose to start their businesses in Yongning.

The reason for choosing Yongning was not only because of the support of the electronics industry by the then mayor of Yongning, Ding Changjie - he not only opened up a rainforest near Yongning University as a new district, encouraged electronics companies to move in with low rents, but also provided investment to these companies through the local "innovation fund", and even reduced taxes.

Thanks to the support of the local government, in the past decade, from transistors to integrated circuits, from production to design, an industrial zone with integrated circuit production and design and electronic computer production as the core has been formed in the northwest of Yongning University, hence its name "Silicon Valley" - the reason why there is a word "silicon" in the name is that most of the local companies are engaged in the semiconductor industry and computer industry that process and manufacture high-precision silicon. And "Valley" is derived from the valley.

"We have arrived at Silicon Valley Station. Passengers who are getting off please be prepared and get off from the left door..."

After the train arrived at the station, Xiao Mingjie got off immediately, walked outside the station, and hailed a taxi.

"Master, go to Yanan Electronics."

As the car drove towards the company, Silicon Valley appeared in front of him. There were high-rise buildings scattered on the roadside. There were both research institutions and start-ups. In the past decade, it has developed into the center of NBC's electronic technology. At least to a certain extent, this is the center, and even Yongning University has benefited from it - electronic technology-related majors have developed rapidly.

When passing by a building, Xiao Mingjie smiled and said, looking at the words on the building:

"PBC electronic materials..."

PBC is the abbreviation of Plant Breeding Corporation. It is strange to see such a word in "Silicon Valley". Plant Breeding Corporation is the largest seed company of NBC. This British company has not only achieved success in the seed field, but also invested in other fields. A few years ago, the emerging electronics industry attracted the attention of plant breeders, and its two research laboratories began to study silicon materials.

PBC's inorganic chemical division has added a new member, "PBC Electronic Materials Company", which will be used to manufacture "ultra-pure metallic silicon", which is essential in the manufacture of transistors and rectifiers. The start of construction of the new plant represents PBC's entry into this field and its supply of products to the emerging electronics industry.

PBC Electronic Materials' plant is located about 60 kilometers east of Pontianak, where the clean air environment is ideal for the extreme cleanliness required for silicon wafer production. In the past few years, its factory has been expanded to provide CZ single crystal ingots.

Although its scale is still larger than Yonghe Materials, it also has its own specialty products. Now, just as Xiao Mingjie was rushing to the company in a taxi, cheers were heard in the laboratory of the PBC Electronic Materials Building.

"We succeeded, we succeeded..."

In front of a 50MM silicon wafer, a group of researchers in cleanroom suits cheered.

Dr. Backhaus, who usually has a serious face, smiled at this moment. After joining PBC Electronic Materials, he took on the task of designing a polishing process that would provide a more perfect wafer surface for growing epilayers. The hard abrasives used to polish wafers will produce scratches on the surface. Although they are not visible in the substrate, they will appear once the epilayer grows.

In order to improve the quality of silicon chips, Dr. Backhaus and his team have been conducting research in this area.

"Initially we used alumina suspension for polishing. If we kept using it, we would eventually get a better surface on the wafer... Later, in order to address the existing problem, we created a colloidal silicon product, and they tried it. It is alkaline to maintain suspension. All the scratches on the surface of the epitaxial wafer disappeared, and now we can provide the most perfect wafer surface! Its exposure resolution is 10 microns!"

In the laboratory, looking at the silicon wafer with no damage on the surface, company manager Luo Shouzhi said with a smile:

"Not just the most perfect chip, but the biggest ..."

Looking at Buckhouse, Luo Shouzhi said:

"Our factory has already produced the first batch of 100mm wafers, which are the largest wafers in the world. We have now, to a certain extent, left Yonghe Materials behind."

Yonghe Materials is NBC's earliest materials company with the most powerful technology. Although it has the same corporate background as PBC, the competition between them is fierce, and they are both trying to surpass each other.

The total stepping exposure area of ​​the 50mm wafers on the market now is only 100/1 of that of the 4mm wafers. Using it to manufacture integrated circuits is equivalent to making four wafers in the time it takes a 50mm wafer to make only one. Naturally, the advantages in price and labor hours emerge.

This is why Luo Shouzhi emphasized that they had left Yonghe behind. When they regarded each other as rivals, they did not even realize that it was in this process of catching up that NBC's electronic technology was constantly improving.

From photolithography machines to integrated circuit design, from wafers to chips, and a series of inventions such as photoresist, this is a complete industrial chain. This advantage is something that many countries do not have.

On this day, "Silicon Valley" is still the same as in the past. Hundreds of companies and tens of thousands of employees are still working in their respective companies. The sun sets as usual, but the light of Silicon Valley is destined to light up the whole world...

(End of this chapter)