Rebirth 76: Industrial Internet Empire

Lin Benjian, who had been silent all the time, suddenly said: "Mr. Yang, the light source of the lithography machine has been stuck at the wavelength of 193 nanometers. The major lithography machine companies have racked their brains and cannot shorten the wavelength to 157 nanometers, so I want to try to lobby. Lithography machine manufacturers have taken a new approach and changed their design concepts, changing the traditional dry lithography technology with air as the medium to an immersion lithography process..."

Yang Mo's heart moved and he almost blurted out: "Immersion photolithography process?"

Lin Benjian quickly explained: "Mr. Yang, the immersion lithography solution is not a whim. When I was working at IBM, I started to study the immersion lithography process. I think that under the current technical conditions, the best solution to shorten the wavelength is to use Dry lithography technology turns to immersion technology!”

"Does your immersion lithography plan have any theoretical support?" Yang Mo asked calmly.

Lin Benxin nodded confidently and said: "Yes! Change the medium between the lens and the silicon wafer from air to water. Since the refractive index of water is about 1.4, the wavelength can be shortened to 193 nanometers divided by 1.4. That's it. The wavelength was suddenly shortened to 132nm, which greatly exceeded the 157nm that had been unconquerable!”

"Have there been any papers in this area in internationally renowned academic journals?" Yang Mo continued to ask.

"I have published three papers in this area, but with little success and have not received the attention of photolithography machine manufacturers!" Lin Benjian said with some frustration.

"Have you mentioned this plan to other lithography machine companies?" Yang Mo chuckled.

"Mr. Yang, to tell you the truth, before I came to the Netherlands, I communicated with Nikon and Toshiba about the immersion lithography solution. I wanted them to customize an immersion lithography machine for Shida Semiconductor, but they were not interested. Big..." Lin Benjian said with a wry smile.

After Yang Mo pondered for a moment, he said to the bodyguard: "Xiao Li, pull over first, let's take a rest..."

"Mr. Yang, do you also think this is unreliable? ASML won't customize an immersion lithography machine for us?" Lin Benjian's expression dimmed instantly.

Yang Mo smiled and said: "Director Lin! Don't worry, as long as you have confidence in the immersion lithography process, even if ASML is not willing to customize it for Shida Semiconductor, I am willing to acquire a lithography machine company specifically for you. Let’s test your ideas!”

Yang Mo's words moved Lin Benjian, who was nearly [-] years old, and said with some emotion: "Mr. Yang, to produce an immersion lithography machine is not only to acquire a lithography machine company, but also to invest tens of millions in the future. US dollars in R&D expenses will result in heavy losses if this path fails!”

Yang Mo laughed loudly and said: "Since the establishment of Zhiyuan Group, there have been countless failed R&D projects, but no matter how tight the capital chain is, Zhiyuan has never delayed paying a penny of R&D funds..."

Yang Mo's words made Zhang Rujing, Jiang Shangyi, Lin Benjian and others excited!

Yang Mo pondered for a moment and then suddenly said: "Director Lin, please apply for a patent for your immersion lithography process in the name of Shida Semiconductor. Regardless of whether the immersion lithography process can be successfully developed in the end, Shida Semiconductor will give it to you." How about a generous reward?"

"Registered patent? And generous rewards?" Lin Benjian didn't believe his ears and couldn't help but glance at Zhang Rujing.

Zhang Rujing laughed and said: "Director Lin, Mr. Yang's words represent the company's attitude!"

It was just a simple design idea, and no one was interested in giving it to Nikon for free. Lin Benjian immediately nodded and agreed to Yang Mo's proposal.

"Change the plan. Instead of going to Veldhofen, go to the Silicon Valley headquarters!" Yang Mo said.

"Going to the Silicon Valley headquarters? The headquarters is just empty..." Zhang Rujing asked in confusion.

"You ask Shida Semiconductor's legal and financial staff to join us at the Silicon Valley headquarters and prepare to raise funds from the capital market!" Yang Mo continued.

"Financing? We currently have no plans to expand production capacity?" Zhang Rujing said even more puzzled.

"Full acquisition of ASML Lithography Machine Company!" Yang Mo said without explanation.

Zhang Rujing smiled bitterly: "Which corporate capital company will support this crazy idea?"

"Don't worry about financing, I will arrange it! Don't mention the immersion lithography machine plan to anyone for the time being. When applying for a patent, there is no need to save money. Set up more patent traps and block all roads as much as possible... ..." Yang Mo instructed.

Yang Mo's somewhat vague memories gradually became clearer. He remembered that ASML's immersion lithography machine technology seemed to have been first proposed by a TSMC technician...

Yang Mo was not sure whether this person was Lin Benjian, but judging from his understanding of immersion lithography technology, he should be close to him.

From this point of view, ASML’s new generation of immersion lithography machines that overturned the dominance of Nikon and Canon was most likely inspired by TSMC technicians!

"Mr. Yang, photolithography machines involve many high-precision fields such as optical design, material technology, electronic control systems, precision manufacturing, etc. The manufacturing difficulty is beyond ordinary people's imagination. The manufacturing process requires highly precise process control and complex Supply chain management, the precision and complexity of each link are beyond imagination. So far, we only have one unverified solution. It may be difficult to complete it with our own technical strength alone!" said the person who has been silent. Jiang Shangyi said suddenly.

"What do you think?" Yang Mo asked with interest.

"I personally think that we should focus our breakthrough direction on chip manufacturing. As long as we remain at the forefront of wafer manufacturing technology, we will have enough say in the entire industry chain, even for chip leaders like Intel. If a company wants to create the most advanced chips, it cannot avoid World Semiconductor!" Jiang Shangyi said after pondering for a moment.

Yang Mo chuckled and said: "Mr. Jiang, you are right. No matter which end of the industrial chain you are at, as long as it is irreplaceable, you have enough say. But can you guarantee that Shida Semiconductor is irreplaceable?"

Jiang Shangyi smiled bitterly and said: "No one can guarantee this..."

Yang Mo frowned and said: "The speed of change of lithography machine technology determines the development of integrated circuits! Just like now, the entire lithography machine industry has reached a dead end, and the 157nm process technology is like a mountain, spanning In front of us, you can't even see any hope of breakthrough. In less than a year and a half, after the wafer factories that are originally lagging behind your process technology catch up with your technology, there will be a fierce price war in the chip manufacturing field..."

"Moore's Law determines that photolithography technology cannot remain stagnant, and there will always be new solutions!" Jiang Shangyi continued.