Galaxy Technology Empire

Huang Haojie has seen the construction progress of the X-ray laser base in Luhe County.

Judging from the current situation, since the technology is quite mature, the project is expected to be completed from November to December this year.

After two or three months of adjustments and preliminary experiments, it is expected that the iron-silver room-temperature superconductor will be ready for small-scale mass production in April next year.

Once room-temperature superconductors are available, Galaxy Technology’s chips must be launched.

So this time Zhang Rujing resigned, it was an opportunity for Huang Junjie.

He needs someone who knows the chip industry well to take the helm of Galaxy Technology's chip company.

Zhang Rujing is very suitable. He is very good at factory construction in the chip industry, and this is exactly what Huang Haojie needs.

In addition, the other party's character was not bad, so Huang Haojie decided to get in touch with the other party to see if he could attract Zhang Rujing to Galaxy Technology.

However, due to the very low data integrity of superconducting quantum chips, it is only about 8% so far.

Huang Haojie has decided to produce superconducting electronic chips first.

In fact, the processes of superconducting quantum chips and electronic chips are very similar.

Since computer technology became popular in the second half of the 20th century, mankind has entered the information age.

As computer chips become more and more integrated and components become smaller and smaller, integrated circuit technology is now approaching its limits, and Moore's Law is about to expire, and the performance of electronic chips has almost reached its limit.

And although the running speed of computers is increasing day by day, there are some problems that computers cannot solve at all, such as the factorization of large numbers. In theory, as long as one number is large enough, this problem can keep the fastest computers busy for hundreds of millions of years.

Therefore, a new computer must be put on the agenda.

At present, there are three main paths for future computers, namely: quantum computers, photon computers, and biological computers.

Quantum computers are also divided into many branches, and superconducting quantum computers are currently the most promising. Others include light quanta, ion traps, superconducting circuits, diamond color centers and semiconductor quantum dots, all of which are promising for use as qubits. That is, a quantum computer.

Photonic computers also have great potential. Of course, like quantum computers, materials are a big problem, and how to design them is also very troublesome.

As for biological computers, this thing is also called a DNA computer or a molecular computer. Foreigners have already developed it, and its computing speed is extraordinary. However, how to read the data is a huge problem.

And Huang Haojie now has room-temperature superconductor technology at his disposal. Of course, he is inclined to superconducting quantum computers.

In addition, the 8% quantum chip technical information is not completely useless.

He discovered that one of the technologies could be used in chip technology.

Let’s talk about the current electronic computer chip technology, the chip manufacturing process and the level of the Mi Li family (because Dongdao and the mainland are currently in a state of separation, so Dongdao’s chip technology is not equivalent to Dongtang).

Silicon needs to be chlorinated and then distilled to get very pure silicon, which can be cut into slices to get the silicon wafers we want.

The evaluation index of silicon is purity. If you think about it, if there are a bunch of impurities in silicon, the electrons will not be able to run smoothly.

Solar-grade high-purity silicon requires 99.9999%. More than half of this stuff in the world is produced in Dongtang, and it has long been priced at a bargain price.

The electronic-grade high-purity silicon used in chips requires 99.999999999% (don’t count, 11 nines, also known as 11N), and almost all of it is imported.

I heard that Xinhua Company in Jiangsu Province is developing it and plans to initially achieve an annual output of 5,000 tons, while Dongtang imports 150,000 tons a year.

The traditional overlords of high-purity silicon are still Hans Wacker (Wacker Chemical) and Hemlock (Hemlock, a joint venture between Hemlock and Mitsubishi). Dongtang has a long way to go.

Next is the wafer, which needs to be rotated during silicon purification, and the finished product is cylindrical. Therefore, the sliced ​​silicon wafer is also round, so it is called "wafer".

After cutting, thousands of circuits must be installed on the wafer. The person who does this work is called a "wafer factory."

So with current human technology, how can we accomplish this operation? Using atomic manipulation? Maybe Huang Haojie in parallel time and space can use nanorobots to complete it, but for now, just think about it.

The process of wafer processing is a bit cumbersome.

First, a layer of photosensitive material is coated on the wafer. This material melts when exposed to light. Where does the light come from? A photolithography machine can use very precise light to carve patterns on photosensitive materials, exposing the wafer underneath.

Then, it is washed with something like plasma, and many grooves will be carved into the exposed wafer. This equipment is called an etching machine.

By doping phosphorus into the trench, you get a bunch of N-type semiconductors.

After completion, clean it, re-coat it with photosensitive material, use a photolithography machine to engrave patterns, use an etching machine to engrave grooves, and then sprinkle with boron, you will have a P-type semiconductor.

The actual process is more cumbersome, but the general principle is this. It's a bit like 3D printing, where wires and other components are put in layer by layer.

So why not make the chip bigger? Wouldn't this allow more circuits to be installed? Doesn’t the performance catch up with foreign countries?

The answer is surprisingly simple: money! For a 300mm diameter wafer, 100 chips can be made using the 16nm process, and 210 chips can be made using the 10nm process. Therefore, the price is half cheaper, and you can overpower your competitors in the market, and you can make money while doing it. With more research and development, the gap widens.

However, Dongtang's military chips have basically achieved self-sufficiency, because Rabbit doesn't care about money! You can make the chip bigger.

In addition, the larger the silicon chip, the greater the probability of encountering impurities, so the larger the chip, the lower the yield rate. In general, the cost of large chips is much higher than that of small chips, but for Juntu, this is not a problem.

After all, safety comes first, and spending money is better than getting choked.

The chip yield rate depends on the overall level of the wafer factory, but the processing accuracy depends entirely on the core equipment, which is the "lithography machine" mentioned earlier.

Lithography machine, Netherlands-ASML (ASML) sweeps the world! Sorry, the output is not high yet, please wait patiently! Whether it’s Taichi, Sanxin, or Intel, whoever buys ASML’s lithography machine first will be the first to have the 7nm process. There's no way, it's just so powerful!

Nikon and Canon in the Sunland also make photolithography machines, but their technology is far inferior to ASML. In recent years, ASML has been beaten to the bottom and can only grab share in the low-end market.

ASML is the only manufacturer of high-end lithography machines. Each unit sells for at least US$100 million. It only produced 12 units in 2017 and is expected to produce 24 units in 2018. These have already been snatched up by TSMC, Samsung and Intel. In 2019, ASML It is predicted that there will be 40 units, one of which is for Huaxin International.

Since it's so important, can't we spend more money?

First: Intel has 15% of ASML's shares, Taiji Electric has 5%, and Sanxin has 3%. Sometimes, money is not everything. Second, Dongtang has implemented the Wassenaar Agreement, and sensitive technologies cannot be sold. Dongtang, North Korea, Persia, and Libya are all restricted countries.

Interestingly, Shanghai Microelectronics successfully developed a 90nm lithography machine in 2009 (core components were imported). In 2010, Milijia allowed the sale of equipment above 90nm to China. Later, Dongtang began to work on 65nm lithography machines. In 2015, Milijia Only if the country allows the sale of equipment above 65nm to Dongtang does SMIC have the opportunity to pick up a high-end machine.

Of course, the reasons are self-evident. The reason for relaxing the restrictions is mainly to crack down on Dongtang companies, so that Dongtang companies cannot make profits and fall into a vicious cycle.

But we don’t need to be discouraged. Any real estate company we have can easily beat ASML in sales.

The etching machine, which is second only to the photolithography machine in importance, is in much better condition. The 16nm etching machine is already in mass production and the 7-10nm etching machine is on the way. Therefore, Milijia has very considerately lifted the requirement for Dongtang. Don etching machine blockade.

To inject elements such as boron and phosphorus into the wafer, an "ion implanter" is used. This year it seems that the country will have the first domestically produced commercial machine, but the level is unknown.

Milijia Applied Materials owns 70% of the market share of ion implanters.

To apply photosensitive materials, you need to use a "coating developing machine". Sunland Tokyo Electronics Company took 90% of the market share.

Even auxiliary materials such as photoresist are almost monopolized by Sunland Shin-Etsu, Milijia Dow and others.

After the chip is completed, it must be cut out from the wafer, connected to wires, installed in the casing, and tested by the way. This is called packaging and testing.

Packaging and testing is dominated by Dongdao, with ASE ranked first in the world, followed by a bunch of powerful juniors: Silicon Products, Licheng, Nanmao, Xinbang, and KYEC Electronics.

Dongtang's three packaging and testing giants, Changdian Technology, Huatian Technology, and Tongfu Microelectronics, are doing pretty well. After all, they are only at the end of the chip industry and their technical content is not high.

Silicon raw materials, chip design, wafer processing, packaging and testing, and related semiconductor equipment, most areas of Dongtang are still in a state of "a long way to go".

So how long will this state of confusion continue? According to the theory of "burning money and burning time", if you count on your fingers, it will be about 2030!

The "Integrated Circuit Industry Development Outline" issued by the Dongtang Cabinet clearly stated that by 2030, the main links of the integrated circuit industry chain will reach the internationally advanced level, a number of companies will enter the international first echelon, and the industry will achieve leapfrog development.

At present, the overall level of Dongtang chips is almost at the stage of just achieving zero breakthrough. Although the market share is very small, every field is following up.

There is a long way to go!