I can become stronger by paying salaries. I have one billion employees!

Chapter 671, Step Two: Overturning the Seas! The Dawn A220 EUV Lithography Machine, President Chen's New Bargain!
In mid-August, the Alibaba IPO, the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, austenitic 304 stainless steel, the Ice Bucket Challenge, the Legend of the Condor Heroes, and the reunion of Faye Wong and Nicholas Tse were the most talked-about topics.
What puzzled netizens was that Chen Yansen seemed to have vanished into thin air, completely disappearing without a trace.

His last public appearance was at the beginning of the month when he attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Orange Kindergarten.

"Is the preschool education industry really that powerful? Even at the business leaders summit a few days ago, Brother Sen didn't attend."

"I heard that Chen Yansen was shot in the back and is still lying in the Sixth People's Hospital of Shanghai!"

"That's not right. The version I heard is that Mr. Chen was arrested for buying and selling love, and he'll be locked up for at least half a month!"

"666! Dude upstairs, do you think Senlian Capital's 1000+ legal counsel are just for show? Get ready to receive a lawyer's letter!"

"Hilarious! The posts were deleted pretty quickly! Did Senlian Capital step in, or did they get scared themselves?"

"Brother Sen was assassinated long ago! If he makes a public appearance next month, it's definitely a body double!"

While Chen Yansen was busy pushing forward the development of EUV lithography machines, the rumors about him on the internet became increasingly outrageous.

According to incomplete statistics, netizens have suggested that Chen Yansen died by means of shooting, being hit by a car, being poisoned, or drowning.

Ultimately, it was only through the collaboration of Senlian Capital's legal department with multiple platforms, including Weibo, Toutiao, Douyin, Kuaishou, and WeChat, that the rumors were suppressed.

Within a week, Chen Yansen received three phone calls from his father, Lao Chen. After confirming that his son was alright, he turned around and became a rumor-busting warrior, going online to directly confront netizens who were spreading rumors.

When Chen Yansen found out, he did not stop them.

After all, arguing with people can also help prevent Alzheimer's disease.

Time flies, and it's already evening on August 23rd.

The summer evening breeze rustled the camphor trees at Xingyuan Technology's R&D center, causing their branches and leaves to sway and whisper.

The innermost core laboratory was as bright as day, and the air was filled with an almost solidified heat.

The concept of time is blurred by constant temperature and humidity; the only perceptible passage of time is the numbers flashing on the control room screen.

Chen Yansen, dressed neatly and bundled up tightly, stood in front of the control panel with Liang Jingsong, Lin Nan, Wang Xiangchao, Zhang Yanjie, and others, gazing at the enormous machine before them through the thick, radiation-resistant glass.

Although this EUV lithography machine is only an Alpha prototype, its metal body gleams with a precise silver sheen under the cold light, and countless pipelines are intertwined like veins, while the observation window of the core chamber emits a faint purple glow.

They successfully overcame the technological hurdles of EUV light source, optical system, and dual workpiece stage one after another.

The lobby was unusually quiet, with only the low hum of the ventilation system audible.

The engineers, dressed in full cleanroom suits, moved slowly around the equipment like doctors in an operating room, conducting final checks.

"Boss, all subsystems have completed their self-checks, and the vacuum unit is ready to start at any time."

Lin Nan's voice was slightly hoarse as he reported to Chen Yansen.

Chen Yansen nodded and said, "Execute according to plan and gradually establish the optical path vacuum."

The atmosphere in the control room instantly tensed up after the order was given.

The massive vacuum pump unit began to work, emitting a deep roar.

On the display screen, the numbers representing the vacuum level inside the optical path show a precipitous drop: 0.01 Pa, 0.0001 Pa, 0.000001 Pa, moving towards a high vacuum.

Everyone's hearts mentioned their throats!
An extremely vacuum environment is a prerequisite for EUV light source transmission; even the slightest leak can render all previous efforts futile.

I do not know how long it has been!

Wang Xiangchao suddenly shouted, "The vacuum level has stabilized at 0.0000006 Pascals! The preset value has been reached!"

A slight, restrained commotion arose in the control room, and someone clenched their fist slightly.

The first step was a success!
Why must the light source system, illumination optics system in the main cavity, imaging optics system, wafer platform module, mask handling module, and wafer handling module of an EUV lithography machine all be in a vacuum environment?
This is because EUV light has an extremely short wavelength and is easily absorbed by all substances, including air.

In a vacuum environment, the absorption and scattering of EUV light by gas molecules can be minimized, thereby ensuring that the energy of the light source can be effectively transferred to the subsequent optical system.

If the environment is not vacuum, EUV light will be significantly attenuated during transmission, which will not meet the energy intensity required for photolithography.

The core technology of this module was developed by Zhang Yanjie, in collaboration with dozens of engineers from the Shenyang Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics.

Therefore, he was more nervous than anyone else, fearing that he might make a mistake and drag the team down.

"Start the light source to preheat, and set the power to the lowest level."

Chen Yansen calmly announced the next instruction.

The tense moment has arrived!
This is the first beast that Xingyuan Technology has tamed – the Magnetic Confinement Discharge Excited Plasma Source (MCDE-EUV light) – which is about to be awakened!

If all goes well, it will use an electromagnetic field instead of a laser to excite and confine the plasma, thereby obtaining weak, extremely deep ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 13.5 nanometers.

Time passed by minute by minute.

On the main monitoring screen, a baseline that was originally flat flickered slightly.

Then, a faint but clearly discernible signal peak stubbornly rose up!
"We have a signal!" a young researcher couldn't help but shout, his voice trembling with excitement.

Everyone knows the answer!

The first EUV lithography machine has significant strategic importance for China!
Almost at the same time, the EUV power detector at the end of the optical path transmitted back the first data: 107 watts!
A number that ASML had long since left behind caused a brief silence in the control room, which was then followed by a huge cheer!

Many people instinctively hugged each other, their eyes instantly reddening.

Lin Nan felt his hands trembling slightly, so he gripped the railing tightly and forced himself to calm down.

Chen Yansen remained calm. He raised his hand to quell the cheers in the control room, and they quickly subsided.

"Increase the power level!" Chen Yansen continued.

The power of the EUV lithography machine directly determines the number of wafers processed per unit time. Each exposure requires sufficient EUV light energy to trigger the photochemical reaction of the photoresist.

If the light source power is low, the single exposure time needs to be extended or the number of pulses increased in order to meet the energy requirements, resulting in a longer single wafer processing time.

比如200W功率的机型每小时可处理约125片晶圆，而250W机型可提升至每小时170片，产能提升近40%。

A slight difference in technique can make a huge difference!

Moreover, the higher the power, the lower the photolithography cost per wafer, and the stronger the advantages of economies of scale.

Upon hearing this, Lin Nan immediately composed himself, his right hand rapidly sliding across the control panel while his eyes remained fixed on the power adjustment interface: "Received! Current target setting: 220 watts. The boost rate has been adjusted to the safe threshold to prevent plasma instability."

On the control panel screen, the number representing the power of the light source began to slowly climb, and with each jump in the value, the breathing in the control room became a little heavier.

137 watts, 168 watts, 214 watts...

When the number stabilized at 220 watts, Lin Nan immediately looked at the light source stability monitoring curve next to him.

The green line representing the plasma confinement state maintained a steady fluctuation without any abnormal spikes or drops. The system is operating stably!

"Power is stable at 220 watts! Plasma confinement is good, and there is no energy leakage!"

Lin Nan's voice was a few decibels louder than before, his tense shoulders relaxed slightly, and a bright smile that no one else could see bloomed on his face.

As a core researcher of China's first domestically produced EUV lithography machine, he was someone who could definitely be featured in textbooks, be elected as an academician, and leave his mark on history.

He quickly took a deep breath and forcibly controlled his emotions.

Chen Yansen nodded slightly and turned to look at Zhang Yanjie: "Synchronize and adapt the optical system, and check the beam homogenization effect."

Zhang Yanjie immediately retrieved the real-time data from the lighting optics module, and a set of beam cross-section distribution diagrams popped up on the screen.

The pale purple light spot evenly covered the simulated mask area, with no shadows of energy decay appearing at the edges.

"Professor Chen, the beam homogenization is 99.2%, which meets the optical adaptation requirements at 220 watts of power. The imaging optical system has completed autofocus calibration!"

Zhang Yanjie responded loudly.

This time, the commotion in the control room was even more pronounced than before.

Someone quietly wiped their eyes, while another lightly tapped the table with their fist.

The increase from 107 watts to 220 watts is not just a numerical improvement, but also proves that their MCDE-EUV light source can not only "light up" but also remain stable at higher power, which means that mass production is one step closer.

Power is a crucial factor limiting process nodes!

Miniaturization of the manufacturing process requires smaller linewidths and spacing, which necessitates higher optical contrast in EUV light, and power is the core support for contrast.

A stable power output of 220 watts is sufficient to meet the needs of 7-nanometer chip production.

Chen Yansen hummed in agreement, then instructed: "Prepare the wafer stage and mask stage for simultaneous testing, load the test wafer, and set the exposure program according to the 28-nanometer process parameters."

Wang Xiangchao immediately responded: "The test wafer has been sent to the pre-alignment station by the robotic arm, and the mask stage has been loaded with a 28-nanometer standard circuit mask. Simultaneous accuracy calibration is underway."

In an instant, everyone's attention was focused back on the main monitoring screen.

The screen is divided into four parts: the top left corner shows the power of the light source and the plasma status, the top right corner shows the beam distribution of the optical system, the bottom left corner shows the real-time coordinates of the wafer stage, and the bottom right corner shows the motion trajectory of the mask stage.

As Wang Xiangchao pressed the button, the two precision platforms moved rapidly, their trajectories resembling two precisely meshing gears, with each fine adjustment controlled within 0.1 nanometers.

"Synchronization accuracy 0.08 nanometers! Meets the preset standard!"

Wang Xiangchao said.

Chen Yansen glanced at the time; it was 8:37 PM, more than half an hour after the vacuum pump was started.

He leaned down, spoke into the microphone, and instructed the lab staff: "Start the exposure, set the single exposure time to 0.5 seconds, and record all parameters."

Inside the observation window of the core chamber, a faint purple light suddenly brightened for a moment before returning to its soft glow.

The detector at the end of the optical path was frantically refreshing the data, and lines of values ​​representing "exposure energy density", "linewidth uniformity", and "pattern overlay accuracy" were popping up on the screen.

Every number is moving closer to being acceptable!
The 0.5 seconds felt like an eternity.

When the notification sounded in the control room that the exposure was complete, Wang Xiangchao immediately operated the robotic arm to move the test wafer out and send it to the testing room.

The group followed, their steps quickening.

When the lithography pattern on the first wafer was clearly displayed on the screen under the precision EUV mask inspection instrument, the scene erupted in cheers.

The lines are as fine as spider silk, yet without a single break or blur; the outline of each transistor is so precise it's like a replica.

The operating principle of a lithography machine is similar to that of a printing press or a camera, except that it uses more sophisticated 'brush' and 'canvas'.

"It's done! It's really done!"

Wang Xiangchao muttered to himself, his hands trembling, and he let out a suppressed yet excited laugh.

Soon, the laughter turned into sobbing.

He is 59 years old this year and has spent most of his life working in the field of EUV light sources.

He once felt powerless, watching his life come to an end and seeing no hope for a technological breakthrough in EUV light sources.

But who would have thought that Xingyuan Technology would emerge at this time, not only breaking the deadlock, but also bringing new hope to China's independent research and development of lithography machines.

Now that EUV lithography machines and the Zhulong G1051 five-axis linkage CNC machine tool have been manufactured, China's chip industry and high-end manufacturing industry will no longer have to depend on others!
Wang Xiangchao wiped his face, trying to hold back his tears of emotion, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up. In the end, he simply stopped hiding it and let the tears stream down his cheeks.

These tears contain the regrets of most of my life, but also the joy of finally reaping the rewards of hardship.

Seeing this, Lin Nan patted him on the shoulder and gently comforted him, "Engineer Wang, we didn't wait in vain, and we didn't work for nothing!"

Standing in the crowd, Liang Jingsong sighed. He secretly sized up Chen Yansen and silently gave his assessment: a monstrous genius!

It is important to understand that most technological breakthroughs in the world require the accumulation of one or even several generations, but Chen Yansen managed to come up with a top-notch solution in the industry while working on a second-tier technology stack.

220瓦、分辨率小于12纳米、0.33数值孔径的光学设计，每平方厘米可容纳约800亿个晶体管，绝对可以支持10纳米和7纳米节点的EUV量产需求。

Chen Yansen smiled slightly; this EUV lithography machine was his new bargaining chip.

After all, the wider the industries Senlian Capital is involved in, the more enemies it makes. If it can't come up with some decent trump cards, how can it gain the full support of the higher-ups?
In addition, a single lithography machine can cost between $5000 million and $9000 million, generating enormous economic benefits.

Moreover, Chen Yansen can use this opportunity to train a group of production, installation, maintenance and repair personnel, thereby gaining more humanitarian support.

However, the Alpha prototype is only suitable for internal testing and does not meet the requirements for actual tape-out testing. A Beta prototype, which is a device for external users to test before the product is released, will be launched later.

Fortunately, StarSource Technology has its own production line. It only needs to go through repeated debugging, modification and iteration to gradually advance and eventually manufacture finished lithography machines that meet the requirements.

"Teacher Chen, let's give it a name!"

Zhang Yanjie suggested.

"Darkness has passed, dawn is breaking! Let's call it Dawn A220."

Chen Yansen thought for a moment and said.

A represents the first sequence of StarSource Technology's lithography machine, and 220 is its peak power.

at the same time.

Upon receiving the news, Li Qingsong immediately picked up the documents and hurriedly headed towards a courtyard by the South China Sea.

(End of this chapter)