From top student in college to scientific research powerhouse

Chapter 17 You're so cunning!
The Applied Electromagnetism Laboratory, second-floor conference room.

Everyone was sitting around the conference table.

On the right are Li Jiaxin, Wang Changjiang, and Du Cheng, representing Xinchuang Microelectronics, and Zhou Qi, an assistant sent by the Faculty of Science administration.

On the left are Xue Kun, Zhu Bingkun, and Chen Shuai, followed by three associate researchers and a doctoral student.

Count them, there are exactly ten people.

Standing on the podium, Zhang Minghao connected his phone to the computer in the conference room and projected the pictures from his phone onto the screen.

Suddenly, a large amount of complex mathematical content appeared on the screen.

Standing to one side, Zhang Minghao pointed to the wall screen and introduced with a slight smile, "Everyone, please look, this is the 'correlation model of atomic, electronic and device properties of semiconductor substrates'."

The people in the conference room immediately became serious.

The entire model is full of complex mathematical content, which may seem dazzling at first glance, but professionals can understand it after careful study.

The complexity mainly lies in the parameter expression.

The fact that each parameter has a corresponding value makes the whole thing look very complicated.

In fact, the core is a system of high-order linear partial differential equations.

Zhang Minghao demonstrated the model and then began explaining the parameters at the very top.

"This part involves the analysis of atomic arrangement and electronic activity, and also the most important numerical calculations."

"From a microscopic perspective, the atomic arrangement affects the arrangement of the resulting device. The electron shell is very important; the activity of the electrons determines..."

"Semiconductor device manufacturing involves many fields, and electromagnetic properties..."

From the microscopic representation of the substrate to the original numerical calculations, and then to the introduction of parameters related to the characteristics of the device.

Zhang Minghao explained it in great detail, carefully introducing the meaning of each parameter and clearly explaining the methods of correlation and derivation to express numerical values.

He spoke for forty minutes straight, and everyone in the conference room listened attentively.

Li Jiaxin and his two colleagues did model calculations, but they only followed the methods in the materials and did not have a thorough understanding of the various parameters of the model.

Now that I hear it, I understand everything.

Chen Shuai, Zhu Bingkun, and others reacted more strongly; they had just heard "model," "model," and had no idea what it was.

Now I know.

Mathematical model relating semiconductor substrate and device characteristics!

Chen Shuai asked Zhu Bingkun in surprise, "Semiconductor substrates and devices are connected together?"

"The parameter range is still quite large, but we can still roughly calculate the general direction for selecting a specific semiconductor substrate through the model, right?"

Of course, it's not very meaningful.

The parameter results have a wide range of fluctuations, and the direction they point to cannot keep up with the experimental accumulation. At most, they can only eliminate a portion of the substrate selections.

But the key is the significance!

The model displayed on the wall demonstrates the mathematical correlation between the characteristics of semiconductor substrates and devices!

"real or fake?"

Chen Shuai said in surprise, "Data correlation between the substrate and the device? How is that possible...?"

Zhu Bingkun glared at him.

He was also very surprised, but since the people from the R&D department of the startup technology company were here, why ask if it was true or false?
Zhu Bingkun also understood why Xue Kun said they should pursue the research and development of tinene.

If we can calculate the required substrate based on the characteristics of the device, wouldn't it also mean that we can use the characteristics of a single-layer tinene film to deduce the most suitable substrate?
Perhaps there are even more suitable substrates than bismuth telluride!

Even if we only get rough values, we can still conduct research on the substrate materials within the scope of the results, and then we will have many ideas and directions.

Of course, all of this is based on the premise that the model is correct.

Zhang Minghao spoke for forty minutes, paused to take a sip of water, and then continued talking about the parameter issue.

"As you can see, each parameter is an expression or a range value."

"The parameters I express are derived from the analysis of publicly available experimental data. Therefore, with more and more complete data, the range of parameters will be further narrowed and they will become more accurate."

"Solving higher-order partial differential equations is not a problem either."

"With the entire derivation process, numerical calculations are much more accurate. The equations can be broken down and calculated point by point..."

After explaining the 'model parameters', Zhang Minghao briefly discussed the problem to be solved.

Solving high-order partial differential equation systems is a big problem, but because of the entire derivation process and the fact that the solution system is linear, the equation system can be broken down for calculation.

He explained it simply, but others could only grasp the general idea because the key was the 'derivation process'.

The derivation process is fundamental to the research and development and is a top secret, so of course it cannot be discussed in detail.

Li Jiaxin and the other two were more concerned with the conclusion.

The most important thing is to make it perfect!

Li Jiaxin couldn't help but ask, "With enough data to support it, the parameter range can be narrowed, which means the model can continue to be improved?"

"Of course!"

Zhang Minghao answered very confidently, "Not only can it be improved, but some parameters can also be calculated to have extremely small deviations, but the premise is that there is a large amount of data to fill in." After he finished speaking, he changed the subject and continued, "This is a very practical model, directly related to semiconductor devices and substrates, and the value of each parameter is calculated."

"Large amounts of data mean a large amount of computation, requiring at least a mainframe computer."

"If it were just a matter of large computational load, it wouldn't be so bad. But because it involves changes in the underlying data, the issue of asymptotic values, and comparisons with the original data, manual analysis and research are required..."

"It also consumes a lot of manpower and energy..."

"Time-consuming and laborious..."

Zhang Minghao spoke at length, mostly about the difficulties in parameter correction.

The computational workload is enormous, requiring the continuous use of large computers.

The analysis is difficult and requires highly qualified personnel to conduct professional computational research.

In addition, much of the analysis and calculation is still useless, which requires more time and effort.

Everyone in the conference room understood.

This research is like defining a very small area on a piece of paper and then drawing lines randomly on the paper.

When a line passes through a defined area, the area can be further reduced. However, as the area becomes smaller, the probability of a randomly drawn line passing through the area also decreases.

Drawing lines is not an easy task either.

Therefore, narrowing the parameter range, that is, perfecting the model, is an extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive task.

After finishing his explanation, Zhang Minghao stepped down from the podium.

Wang Changjiang stood up, pulled Zhang Minghao to sit next to Li Jiaxin, and then the three of them asked a series of questions.

They are still focused on improving the model.

One is to what extent the parameter range can be narrowed down given enough data.

Furthermore, how long will it take to perfect the model, and how much manpower and effort will it require?

Zhang Minghao then explained in more detail.

The parameter range can certainly be narrowed, but it cannot be narrowed down to a direct value; ultimately, there is still a range.

Experimental data are all subject to bias, and since the parameters are derived from analysis and calculation, the bias will only be greater.

The final calculation results may fluctuate to some extent.

Regarding the work on refining the model, Zhang Minghao did not give a precise answer, saying it was like drawing lines on paper, where perhaps a single line could greatly narrow down the defined area.

He mainly emphasized the high level of difficulty.

The three members of the startup tech team whispered a few words to each other before preparing to leave.

Li Jiaxin called out to Xue Kun and Zhu Bingkun, "We need to go back and discuss this."

"Let's leave it at that for today..."

The lab staff escorted them to the door.

After the three figures disappeared from sight, Xue Kun immediately pulled Zhang Minghao aside and asked, puzzled, "What you said at the end about using a mainframe computer and wasting energy..."

Is it really that difficult?

He didn't understand.

The model research took an unknown amount of time, but it certainly didn't exceed one month!

One person, researching for a month...

What's so difficult?
If we continue to narrow down the parameter range, does it suddenly become this difficult?
Zhang Minghao was immediately at a loss for words, "Teacher Xue, you are still such a person..."

He hesitated for a moment, then thought of a word, "Too honest!"

"What do you mean?" Xue Kun was very puzzled.

Zhang Minghao chuckled and said, "Teacher Xue, think about it carefully, what are they here for?"

"Aren't you interested in the model?"

"Yup!"

Zhang Minghao nodded vigorously, "They are a semiconductor company, and they research semiconductor manufacturing, so of course they would be interested in models that can calculate substrates."

"Such a model would make their research and development easier, saving them more money and time, and could even help them achieve technological breakthroughs..."

How valuable is it?

"To be honest, the research itself isn't difficult. Providing data will narrow down the scope. But then, how do we negotiate a collaboration?"

"They offered me 100,000 yuan in funding. Should I accept it or not?"

"Uh~~~"

Xue Kun was stunned for a long time, then suddenly laughed and scolded, "You still think I'm honest?"

"Zhang Minghao!"

"How come I never noticed before? You're so cunning!"

(End of this chapter)