The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 271 Another Success, Stepping onto the Next Level
Zhou Zhiqiang hasn't been back to the main factory for several days, and he hasn't been home for several days either.

The experiment with the new photolithography process is nearing completion, and the past two days have been a period of continuous experimentation.

Inside the experimental workshop, a modified lithography machine that resembles a proximity lithography machine—or rather, a lithography machine that originally possessed the principles of proximity lithography—was about to be put into operation.

The technicians were testing and preparing to operate the equipment simultaneously; this was already the third fine-tuning operation led by Zhou Zhiqiang.

If this attempt fails, they will still need to find areas for modification and fine-tuning; if successful, they will have achieved semi-automated production of semiconductor silicon wafers.

In the future, not only will production efficiency be greatly improved, but the semiconductor silicon wafers produced using this photolithography equipment will also greatly enhance the performance of integrated circuits.

The consistency of the lens unit passed the re-inspection, with an error within 0.03%; the light source preheating was completed, and the power tended to stabilize, making the experiment feasible.

The photomask has been precisely loaded and aligned; the silicon wafer coating is also complete, and the parameters match the initial calculation settings.
Led by Engineer Lin, the technicians checked all the instruments and equipment to ensure that all values ​​met the limits for starting the experimental processing before turning to Zhou Zhiqiang and Zhao Chenghui and nodding.

"Let's begin the third processing test."

"Yes."

The technician took a deep breath, a little nervous, and then pressed the start button.

A slight humming sound was heard after the equipment started running.

Inside the equipment, the light-diffusing system, which has undergone countless optimizations and adjustments, begins to operate.

The ultraviolet light emitted by the mercury lamp is gradually homogenized and shaped, then precisely projected onto the silicon wafer coated with photoresist through a meticulously crafted photomask with unprecedented uniformity.
The technical operators were also very cautious, afraid that they might mess up the experiment.

The onlookers didn't dare to make a sound, after all, this new lithography equipment was the result of nearly half a year of improvement by so many of them.

Before the Lunar New Year, it took more than a month just for parameter calculation and data collection. After the Lunar New Year, without taking a few days off, the entire project team gathered again and stayed in the CNC branch factory to continuously design and develop.

It's already late April, and May will be here in a few days. If they don't succeed soon, their CNC system won't be able to keep up with the precision of the main factory.

The project team at the main plant is making rapid progress, with the support of professors and technical experts from two universities, as well as a group of college students who know how to calculate and assist.

This allowed the project team at the main plant to quickly solve one problem after another, and they are now waiting for the CNC system from the CNC branch plant to undergo joint debugging and testing.
Time passed second by second, and each second felt like an eternity to others, let alone waiting for a minute.

However, the curve representing the stability of optical power displayed on the instrument showed only minor fluctuations, with no signs of any unexpected events.
"Exposure complete."

After completing this step, the technician immediately reported, "Factory Manager, Deputy Team Leader Zhao, I'm about to begin development."

"Okay, okay, we must stay calm."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Chenghui hurriedly gave instructions, his voice filled with suppressed excitement. If there weren't still some steps to complete, he wouldn't have been able to keep his voice down.

The technicians then carefully and methodically completed all the subsequent operations.

After rinsing and developing, the product was carefully placed under a high-powered microscope. Only then did the operator turn around and say with a sigh of relief, "Factory manager, Deputy Team Leader Zhao, production is complete. Why don't you take a look?"

"Comrade Chenghui, you may go."

Zhou Zhiqiang said with a smile that he had a premonition that the experiment had been successful, so he asked Zhao Chenghui to come and see.

There was absolutely no problem with the operation just now. He also used the collected simulation assistant and materials that were in line with the technology of this era to simulate the process twice before he manufactured it.

There were no problems with the process principles, the equipment, and the operation was carried out with utmost care, so there was no possibility of failure. That's why Zhou Zhiqiang gave Zhao Chenghui the opportunity to announce the good news.

"Then I won't be polite."

Zhao Chenghui didn't back down either. After taking a deep breath, he quickly brought the eyepiece close. In his field of vision, a fine line pattern etched on the silicon wafer was clearly displayed!

There are no flaws at all; the edges are steep and the pattern is extremely high in fidelity, almost exactly the same as the design on the photomask.

Zhao Chenghui looked at it twice before happily looking up and saying, "Comrade Zhiqiang, it's done! Our processing experiment this time is perfect, the uniformity is excellent!"

"let me see."

"I want to see it too. Let me see it after Engineer Lin finishes reading it."

Upon hearing Zhao Chenghui's words, everyone else wanted to step forward and take a look, since this was a silicon wafer manufactured by a new generation of lithography equipment, with higher precision than before.

It has only been a little over two years since they last developed a silicon wafer, and now they have once again raised the bar for China's semiconductor industry.

This has had a transformative impact on the electronics industry and other sectors, a truly groundbreaking development.

Putting everything else aside, Zhao Chenghui felt that in terms of computer manufacturing alone, the size of computers could be reduced again, and the performance would be improved, much better than the previous bulky computers.

Other electronics industries that utilize semiconductors can also try to upgrade their technology.

"Comrades, in the test, don't forget this final step."

Zhou Zhiqiang's words suppressed the excitement in everyone's hearts, reminding them that although the new silicon wafers had been processed and manufactured, they had not yet been tested.

So technicians quickly started operating the microscope's measurement system and began testing the new silicon wafer's black precision one by one.

"Overlay accuracy better than 0.5 micrometers!?"

"Line width uniformity: fluctuation across the entire area is less than four percent!"

After all the tests were completed, enthusiastic cheers and celebrations erupted in the testing workshop.

Although this project has only been going on for less than half a year compared to previous ones, it's already considered fast.

But their achievements are by no means diminished; they are rapidly catching up with world-class standards in the precision of semiconductor device manufacturing.

Right now, perhaps only Afghanistan is stronger than them.

However, this is just Zhou Zhiqiang's speculation. After all, semiconductors are a highly confidential field in Western countries, and they are subject to embargoes.

But so be it, they've already developed semiconductor manufacturing processes that are on par with the world's best.

"Quiet down, comrades."

Zhou Zhiqiang waved to quiet the cheering technicians in the workshop, then loudly announced: "We have successfully taken the most difficult first step, but this is just the beginning!"
The success in the laboratory is not the end of the story; there is still a long way to go before stable large-scale industrial production. Next, we need to conduct more intensive and rigorous repeatability tests to ensure stability.

"After the success rate comes the yield rate, and then there are all sorts of tough challenges like process standards waiting for us."

"You'll have to work hard for a while longer. After we finish these processes, I'll personally go to your factory to find Director Liu and shamelessly ask him to give you a break."

"Thank you so much, Zhiqiang."

Zhao Chenghui immediately smiled and said, "I'd like to take my family to the park. You'll have to talk to Comrade Ruiguang and ask him to at least give us three days off." Zhou Zhiqiang waved his hand and said, "Three days isn't enough. Five days? If Director Liu doesn't agree, I'll stay in his office and refuse to leave!"

"Well done, Director Zhou!"

"Five days would be wonderful! We'll wait for your good news, Director Zhou."

"Thank you, Factory Director Zhou."

The others laughed and said that when they were in the CNC branch factory, they hardly rested except when they were sick, and worked from day to night for three months in a row.

Five days off is not excessive at all; Zhou Zhiqiang would have to beg them for it even if he had to beg.

"No problem, just wait for my news."

After Zhou Zhiqiang finished speaking, he glanced at his watch and realized it was almost one o'clock. He had been so busy with the experiment that he had forgotten about lunchtime.

Zhou Zhiqiang then addressed the group, saying, "It's noon, everyone go eat first. We'll discuss any tasks after lunch."

After Zhou Zhiqiang's reminder, everyone in the experimental workshop realized that they were a little hungry.

I had been focused on my work all morning, and I had overlooked it because of my nervousness. Now that I've been reminded, I've realized that I'm hungry.

So everyone in the workshop immediately started doing some finishing work, cleaning the equipment, preparing the next batch of silicon wafers, and recording the data they had just recorded.

After doing all this, Zhou Zhiqiang walked towards the cafeteria with the others.

It was already 1:30 when I arrived at the cafeteria, and by then there should have been no food left.

However, Zhou Zhiqiang and Tian Wenguo had both given prior instructions that the people in the experimental workshop did not eat on time, and that a batch of meals must be reserved in advance, whether it was lunch or dinner.

So when Zhou Zhiqiang and his group went to the canteen, they were still able to eat hot food.

Although it doesn't taste as good as when it was fresh out of the pot, it's still nice to be able to eat it while it's hot.

The CNC branch factory doesn't have a good chef, so the conditions and benefits they can offer are average. Their financial situation is not as good as the main factory's, and the food is just decent mass-produced dishes—not particularly good, but not too bad either.

"Comrade Chenghui, I would like to entrust the task of manufacturing new lithography equipment and training technical personnel to you."

After dinner, Zhou Zhiqiang called Zhao Chenghui into his office and said to him, "Next, I'll be working on designing a new integrated CNC system. There's a lot to do. Oh, and you also need to give me Engineer Wang and his team."

Although he hired several people from the computer research institute, Engineer Wang and his team were also familiar with integrated CNC systems, and their involvement could shorten the design time.

"You idiot, you need people and then you assign me such a tedious task."

Zhao Chenghui smiled and nodded, saying, "Alright, now that we've successfully manufactured the new proximity lithography equipment, things aren't too busy anymore."

I'll take care of this for you, and then I'll hand it back to you after you're done on your end.

Zhou Zhiqiang said with a smile, "Okay, then I'll leave it to you."

After finalizing the next tasks and details with Zhao Chenghui, Zhao Chenghui went to get busy.

Zhou Zhiqiang then called Tian Wenguo over and told him the news. He explained that the factory would gradually conduct training and change production processes, all of which would require the cooperation of Tian Wenguo, the factory manager.

Although he didn't understand much about technology, as the factory manager in charge of production, he was there to help out.

Zhou Zhiqiang was so busy with the upcoming design and development that he didn't have time to show his face.

------

Computer Research Institute, Director's Office.

The phone on his desk suddenly rang, interrupting Director Guo's train of thought as he was dealing with his work.

However, he still picked up the phone and answered, "Hello, this is Guo Zhilin from the Computer Research Institute. What? Another promotion?"

“CNC branch factory. I remember now, isn’t this a branch factory of Jiuzhou Machine Tool Factory? They asked our institute for a few technicians to help develop and design an integrated CNC system.”

"Can the new lithography equipment they developed achieve such high precision?"

When Guo Zhilin heard the new silicon wafer parameters from Deputy Director Zhao of the Technology Department on the other end of the phone, he was so surprised that he gasped.

That's a significant improvement. If used in computers, it would bring a huge boost, taking a giant leap in both computing performance and power consumption.

In that case, they would have to redesign the computer and strive to develop a better, higher-performance computer.

"Deputy Director Zhao, could you help me make some contact? I'd like to take a few people to the CNC branch factory. Five or seven people, I'll bring all the relevant personnel and have a good chat with their factory manager."

Such good stuff, we should supply a batch to their computer research institute; they don't need much, just half the production volume will do.

After hanging up the phone, Director Guo got up to find someone to make arrangements. He would set off immediately as soon as the department called back.

A jeep slowly drove up to the gate of Jiuzhou Machine Tool Factory.

The security personnel stepped forward and, after confirming that it was Director Zhou inside, quickly signaled for him to pass.

When the car pulled up to the factory office building, Zhou Zhiqiang got out, told the driver he would rest at the factory, and then went upstairs.

When Zhou Zhiqiang arrived at his office door, he happened to run into Zhang Yaoguo, who was carrying a stack of documents and walking out of his office.

"Factory manager, you're back?"

Zhang Yaoguo said with a look of surprise, "I was just about to deliver these documents to Secretary Li. What a coincidence, Factory Director."

"I think it would be fine to come back this afternoon, at least then I wouldn't have to deal with so many documents. Goodness, it's only been four days, how many reports have accumulated?"

After glancing at the height of the document, Zhou Zhiqiang shook his head and said that he was thinking of going back to the CNC branch factory first and then coming back in the afternoon.

Zhang Yaoguo said, "This is half. I haven't moved the other half yet, so I can't finish it all at once."

"."

After Zhou Zhiqiang pushed open the door and went in, he saw a stack of documents on the desk and sighed.

He seems to be busier than the minister, even though he's the factory director. I bet even Vice-Director Wu's desk has more documents than his.

(End of this chapter)