Zhao Ye and Professor Ci once again squatted in the underground workshop of Laboratory No. 8, a scene similar to a few years ago.
Looking at the parts all over the floor, Professor Ci felt a toothache.
Zhao Ye was really uncharacteristic this time. He said he wanted to upgrade the lithography machine. However, there was neither technical route information for the upgrade nor a verification experiment report. What is even more exaggerated is that there was not even a design drawing!
How is this attitude towards scientific research? Professor Ci was just excited, but was immediately made furious by Zhao Ye's "childish" scientific attitude!
Is this what I taught you?
The two of them were arguing and going on like this.
Although Zhao Ye did not draw any pictures, he had complete design ideas in his mind and even complete design drawings.
He just spliced things in reality bit by bit into what he imagined in his mind.
Of course, most of the parts are still parts of the second-generation photolithography machine, but some modifications have been made.
The modification part is also simple. Whatever Zhao Ye needs, it is basically processed on site. Professor Ci and Professor Xie really couldn't imagine it when they saw Zhao Ye's operation.
No matter how you look at it, it looks like a lousy carpenter building furniture on the street. He is just trying!
"Zhao Ye, what on earth are you doing? You don't even have a blueprint, can you do this?"
Professor Ci couldn't help but say this again. Frankly speaking, he had no confidence at all. Zhao Ye's approach went against common sense in scientific research.
"Teacher, don't worry. I just made slight improvements on the previous equipment and didn't make any major changes. The principle is still the same as before."
"Then what improvements have you made? You have to write a description document! If you don't have time, just tell me and I will write it."
"It's just a small change. Don't worry whether you write it or not. Let's make the finished product first. After the improvements are completed, we will have plenty of time to write it, right?"
"Have you finished rewriting? What's the use of writing after rewriting?" Professor Ci finally couldn't bear it anymore. Did you go to college for nothing? You don't even remember the basic procedures for doing research? I really regret it. I shouldn't have let you graduate in the first place.
!
"Master and disciple, please stop arguing. If you continue to argue, it will get dark!" Professor Xie really couldn't listen anymore. The argument between master and disciple continued all day long.
In fact, Professor Xie can also understand what Professor Ci is thinking. People who do research are like this. Whenever they see a new technology, they want to know the whole picture immediately. Now I am watching my students operate step by step, but I don’t know the principle.
And methods, I am definitely anxious.
It took Zhao Ye two full days to complete the corresponding parts and assemble the entire equipment.
"Why does it feel a little weird?" Professor Ci looked at the equipment in front of him and said to himself.
"Teacher, you will know in a moment." After Zhao Ye finished speaking, he began to operate the equipment and prepare the silicon wafers for pre-processing.
"Yezi, is the photoresist you used a new formula? I think it's different from what you used before." Professor Xie saw that the materials Zhao Ye added to the equipment were very different from the previous materials.
Difference, that's why the question arises.
"Well, yes, in order to adapt to the new equipment, I made some improvements to the previous photoresist." Zhao Ye explained to Professor Xie while keeping his hands on it.
After a set of preparations were completed, Zhao Ye returned to the lithography machine. The two professors looked at Zhao Ye and filled a glass container of the lithography machine with a blue liquid.
"What's this?"
"water."
"What water?"
"Pure water, water with a purity of four to nine." Zhao Ye explained. After the water is purified step by step, it will show such a blue color.
Zhao Ye didn't say any more, but was going to personally operate the newly assembled photolithography machine in front of him to test his ideas.
"Zhao Ye, why do you need to add water? What's the principle?" Professor Ci looked at it with wide eyes, his mind filled with all kinds of storms.
"Teacher, this actually uses the refraction of water. Through the refraction of a layer of water, when the light hits the silicon wafer, it will naturally shift in one direction. As long as we control the angle and direction of exposure,
It can improve the chip manufacturing process to a higher level."
"Refraction of water? So simple?" Professor Ci couldn't believe it when he heard this answer.
"This is not simple at all. I think Yezi's design really took a lot of thought. If you think about it, water is a liquid. How to control the fluctuation of water is a big problem." Professor Xie finished reading Zhao Ye's
Then she took a closer look at Zhao Ye's design ideas. To be honest, she was so impressed.
Such an exquisite design can really be described as ingenious but clumsy.
"Teacher, to be honest, this is a bit opportunistic. Although we have improved the manufacturing process using this method, its limitations are still very large. With this method, we can only achieve a lot on the basis of the existing theory.
Fine processing." Zhao Ye explained.
"That's great!" The more Professor Ci thought about it, the more he felt that Zhao Ye was a real genius.
To be honest, compared with Zhao Ye, everyone in this laboratory should be ashamed. Including him, they have spent more than a year and failed to improve the chip processing technology. But what about Zhao Ye? He just came back.
How many days? In such a short period of time, the craftsmanship has been improved a step further.
"Teacher Ci, Teacher Xie, if we want to truly improve the chip manufacturing process to the next order of magnitude, we cannot rely on this method. We still need to find ways to make theoretical breakthroughs."
The two professors nodded. Zhao Ye was telling the truth. The progress of chips can not only be achieved by improving the processing level.
How to arrange more transistors in a smaller space also involves a theoretical breakthrough in transistors. In Zhao Ye's previous life, going from five microns to three microns was an all-round breakthrough in the field of microelectronics, especially in
The theory of micro-transistors is a leap from non-penetrating PN junction to penetrating PN junction.
This technology has also expanded to the entire industrial control field, which is the most commonly used IGBT technology in later generations.
This technology actually evolved from the GBT technology used in three-micron process chips.
Zhao Ye is also doing experiments in this area. He is actually not very proficient in this technology. Although the system dad gave the information, the information is information and the technology is technology. In reality, technology cannot be realized by reading a few articles.
came out.
A lot of experiments, summarization, and expansion are still needed in the process. Especially expansion, this is the most difficult for Zhao Ye.
You can use a simulation laboratory for experiments. Here, you don’t have to worry about funding or materials. As long as you have enough “energy”, it’s just a matter of taking more showers.
But expansion really requires him to use his own brain.
The capabilities provided by the system are more experimental-oriented. But designing experiments requires the human brain. Generally speaking, you have to tell the system what experiments you are going to do and what you are going to analyze.
Zhao Ye once had a simple understanding of chips made with three-micron processes.
In his space, using the current transistor generation theory, it is impossible to achieve similar results below three microns anyway. This does not mean that Zhao Ye's space capabilities are not good, but that even if such a process is realized in space, there is no way
Ported to actual production.
Because this requirement is too high. If the processing technology in reality can reach this level, what else can they conquer in three microns? Wouldn't it be better to directly enter the nanometer era?
Therefore, after searching a large amount of information, Zhao Ye still thought of putting the three-micron technology aside first. Putting it aside here does not mean that it will not be pursued, but that a large amount of resources will be concentrated on the current technology development and application.
Zhonglai. The main task of Professor Erci and Professor Xie is to conquer the theoretical research of three-micron technology.
In this regard, Zhao Ye can also give a research direction and framework, and even help several teachers conduct verification experiments. However, Zhao Ye cannot do it if he is asked to invest a lot of energy in research and development in the laboratory.
His task is to find a way out for technology, so that the technology in our hands can be turned into practical products, and then turned into foreign exchange and our comprehensive strength. If it were not for the next step of program-controlled switches that require the use of a special chip
, Zhao Ye will not leave the program-controlled communication network system alone and come first to build a second and a half generation lithography machine.
Because in the entire program-controlled system, a large number of FPGA chips are needed. The so-called FPGA chip is translated as "field programmable gate array". The biggest feature of this chip is that it can be controlled and controlled by programs, that is, software.
Plan the functionality of the chip.
Doesn’t it sound amazing? Use software to control hardware! In fact, the biggest difference between it and traditional chips is that on this type of chip, many logic cell arrays are concentrated. When his flip-flop is triggered, he
Use small lookup table capabilities to implement combinational logic. The input end of the flip-flop will start the logic circuit of the tower, thus forming a basic logic unit that can realize both combinational logic functions and sequential logic functions.
These modules are connected to each other or to input or output modules. In this way, they can be converted into data through the static storage unit inside the chip to realize various functions of the logic unit, or to be related to that logic module.
Connect and react relative to.
Therefore, this kind of chip can be programmed infinitely. When this kind of chip is used, its internal logic can be changed infinitely to achieve different functions. This chip technology was designed by Zhao Ye
In the program-controlled telephone system, a type of chip is necessary and irreplaceable.
In order to achieve this goal, Zhao Ye had to improve the photolithography machine by half a step to meet the minimum technical requirements for producing such chips.
In addition, not only FPGA chips require new lithography machines, but the production of display chips also requires new lithography machines.