King of Technology: A Fresh Start in 1983

"That's the soul of the Mac chip..."

Zhou Yuguang made a muffled sound from inside his helmet.

Three days ago, Chen Jianghe and Zhou Yuguang brought the final version of GDSII tape-out data…

There was also a sealed letter, personally signed by Su Wanqing, detailing hundreds of specific control parameters adjusted to suit the characteristics of the test line…

Take a private car directly from Beijing to Shanghai.

Su Wanqing arrived a day early and took charge of the process integration center at Shanghai Components Factory No. 5.

The atmosphere was a bit tense at the technical meeting before tape-out.

"Mr. Su! Your Mac chip design has too high a density, and the metal layer stacking is too complex!"

Old Song, the factory director of Shanghai No. 5 Component Factory, pointed to the blueprints.

"Our planarization process yield on the pilot line is estimated to be at most 50%! The risk is simply too great!"

"50%?"

Su Wanqing stood in front of the projector and said, "Engineer Song, I understand your concerns."

"But 50% is based on your past experience with conventional designs. The parameters in this sealed letter..."

She picked up the thick document, "which contains precise compensation values ​​for the characteristics of your equipment, such as lens distortion in the exposure machine and cavity uniformity in the etching machine..."

"And redundancy design rules for critical layers, such as polysilicon gates and contact vias."

"If we follow this procedure, the CMP yield can be pushed to over 65%."

"By designing rules, we avoided the most sensitive areas and increased the redundancy of fault-tolerant tags."

Su Wanqing walked to the whiteboard, picked up a pen, and quickly drew cross-sectional structural diagrams of several key areas.

The specific application locations and principles of the compensation parameters are marked.

"Look here, we've reserved a ±10% margin for the thickness of the interlayer dielectric."

"By adjusting the pressure and time window of the subsequent chemical mechanical polishing."

"And here, we've applied a negative bias to the size of the contact hole."

"Due to the micro-load effect characteristics of your etching process, the actual aperture size is actually closer to the design value..."

A process compensation strategy accurate to the nanometer level!

Like a safety rope on a cliff!

Old Song and several process engineers were dumbfounded!

They had never seen a solution that so deeply understood the "temperament" of their own production line and could perfectly couple design rules with it!

This requires an almost terrifying insight and modeling ability regarding equipment, materials, and physicochemical processes!

"But... what if..." Old Song still had doubts.

"There's no 'what if'."

Su Wanqing's tone was resolute, her gaze sweeping across the room, "We'll share the risks! The project team will cover the tape-out costs!"

"But this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! [Galaxy] is waiting for this heart! Whether domestically produced chips can gain a foothold in the 1.5-micron market depends on this!"

"Engineer Song, if your [708] line dares not tackle this tough challenge, I will immediately report to the ministry and have someone else replaced!"

Old Song noticed the invisible pressure in Su Wanqing's eyes...

Looking at the densely packed yet clearly organized parameters on the sealed envelope…

He slammed his hand on the table: "Let's do it! Engineer Su! Follow your plan! We on the [708] line, we'll risk our lives to get this core out!"

The MAC tape-out battle has officially begun!

Cleanrooms have become battlefields without gunfire.

Su Wanqing was in charge of the PIE monitoring room.

On the huge screen, the process parameters for each step are displayed in real time…

Temperature, pressure, time, gas flow rate, and drug concentration.

And online detection data…

Film thickness, line width, and overlay error.

"Attention in yellow-toned areas! Mask 3 loaded! Exposure dose reduced by 5%! Compensation for lens thermal distortion!"

"Etching machine No. 3! Endpoint detection signal deviation! Manually extend etching time by 3 seconds! Pay attention to sidewall morphology!"

"Ion implantation! Adjust scanning angle! Compensate for insufficient dose at the wafer edge!"

One command after another was issued clearly and calmly from Su Wanqing's mouth.

Through the internal communication system, they can directly reach the operators of each machine.

Her eyes, like sophisticated radar, captured every minute fluctuation on the screen.

The brain processes information rapidly, anticipates potential risks, and adjusts strategies in real time.

Chen Jianghe and Zhou Yuguang were allowed to observe from the monitoring room.

They watched the numbers flashing on the screen, listened to Su Wanqing's emotionless yet incredibly precise instructions, and felt the suffocating tension permeating the air.

Every single wafer's movement captivates everyone's attention.

Time seemed to stretch out, each second feeling like an eternity.

Late at night on the third day.

The crucial metal-to-metal (Metal 2) interconnect lithography process…

The wafer is aligned with the photomask under the control of a precision robotic arm.

Deep ultraviolet lasers project intricate circuit patterns onto the surface of a wafer coated with photoresist through a complex optical system.

Just then, a glaring red alarm suddenly popped up on the monitoring screen, representing the overlay accuracy parameter!

"What's going on? The values ​​are too high!"

Old Song's face turned deathly pale.

The operator's voice trembled: "It might be... fluctuations in machine temperature... or... vibration..."

Su Wanqing suddenly stood up and rushed to the control panel.

My fingers flew across the keyboard, bringing up real-time vibration monitoring data and temperature control curves.

"Pause exposure! Remove wafers!"

A few seconds later, she decisively ordered, "Start the machine's self-test program! Focus on checking the stage's air bearings and temperature control circuit!"

"Notify the equipment team! Immediately investigate any potential sources of ground vibration outside the workshop!"

"Individual wafer marking has been exposed! Subsequent processes will be closely monitored!"

The equipment team immediately launched an emergency investigation…

Sure enough, it was discovered that the slight vibrations were caused by heavy trucks passing through a nearby temporary construction road at night!

After the problem was solved, Su Wanqing adjusted the exposure parameters and compensation algorithm, and the remaining wafers passed the test smoothly.

Seven days later, the long and agonizing wait finally came to an end.

In the packaging and testing workshop.

The first batch of twenty packaged MAC chips were carefully inserted into the high and low temperature test socket.

Su Wanqing, Chen Jianghe, Zhou Yuguang, Lao Song, and others held their breath, gathered around the testing platform. The air seemed to freeze.

The test engineer took a deep breath and pressed the start button.

The power indicator light is on!

Test program loading!

On the oscilloscope screen, the square wave representing the clock signal is steadily ticking!

On the probe of the logic analyzer, the data stream cascaded down like a waterfall!

"Core frequency locked...50MHz!"

"Power consumption...stabilized within budget!"

"Function vector group 1...passed!"

"Function vector group 2...passed!"

...

"All functional test vectors...passed! Error count: zero!"

The test engineer's voice trembled with excitement!

"Temperature cycling test (-40°C to +85°C)...passed!"

"Aging test (125°C, 168 hours)... All 5 pieces tested in the first batch passed!"

It worked!

A long-suppressed cheer erupted in the monitoring room!

Old Song excitedly took off his glasses and wiped his eyes.

Zhou Yuguang patted Chen Jianghe's shoulder hard, choking back tears and speechless...