Chapter 149 - The Craft Is the Most Important
Vincenti spent a full day at Yuanchip's Tech Park, enthusiastically touring all the departments except for the cleanroom. He was particularly impressed by the Mobile Communications Department, remarking that perhaps only a company in mainland China like Yuanchip could assemble such a large R&D team in just two years.
Of course, he had no idea that Yuanchip was the only such entity in the entire mainland—and even then, it could only be considered half a proper team.
The next day at noon, Su Xinghe returned to the Tech Park and accompanied Vincenti to lunch in his capacity as Yuanchip's chairman. During the meal, Su Xinghe deliberately refrained from discussing any matters of cooperation—he needed to publicly show that it was his son, not himself, who was the true leader of Yuanchip.
"Old Jiang got in touch with some companies during the TB exhibition," Su Yuanshan said as he and his father strolled beneath a thirty-meter stretch of grape trellis. "If we only look at equipment, we could actually cobble together a wafer fab right now, similar to what we have in the lab."
Su Yuanshan had insisted last year on transplanting these grapevines, claiming that walking under them would provide shade in the summer, and in season, they could casually pick grapes as they strolled—a beautiful thought. He had overlooked, however, how much the vines attracted mosquitoes and bugs. If you were unlucky, a stink bug might even fall on your head.
Currently, aside from one lithography machine, Yuanchip's cleanroom also contained second-hand equipment salvaged from NEC, just barely capable of processing five-inch wafers. Together with etching and lithography tools, they could scrape together a few chips—assuming cost was no concern.
Su Xinghe smiled at his son, "For a wafer fab, the process technology is far more important than the equipment."
Su Yuanshan nodded, "In a sense, process technology outweighs hardware."
"The reason China bundles equipment and processes together when importing is simple. One, because we have nothing; two, because they hope to master the technology and upgrade the processes over time. But so far, it looks like that path is failing."
Su Yuanshan pursed his lips and looked toward the end of the grape trellis, frowning deeply, "Ultimately, developing process technology comes down to math, physics, and chemistry. And honestly, given the current state of our basic sciences... Without foreign experts or returning overseas talents, it's incredibly hard."
In the chip industry—the pinnacle of human-made artifacts—process technology was vastly more important than equipment. A simple example: in the future, TSMC's 7nm process would leave GlobalFoundries, Samsung, UMC, and TI in the dust. Intel's 10nm process was delayed for years—despite having no external restrictions.
As for Samsung eventually catching up, it was thanks to Liang Mengsong moving over.
Just thinking of Liang Mengsong made Su Yuanshan feel heartache. Last year, Liang had followed his original life trajectory and returned to TSMC. At that time, Yuanchip wasn't even qualified to talk to him—they didn't have even half a production line to show.
"One step at a time," Su Xinghe said, patting his son's shoulder reassuringly. "I heard Jian Guo is experimenting with process technology in the cleanroom?"
"Yeah, more or less. I asked him to explore copper interconnect technology," Su Yuanshan said with a self-deprecating laugh. "We think too far ahead, move too fast... Right now, there aren't many who can keep up."
Copper interconnect technology involved replacing the aluminum interconnect layers in integrated circuits with copper, which had superior resistance and heat tolerance. This was key to achieving higher chip frequencies.
TSMC had pioneered copper interconnects at the 0.13-micron node, leapfrogging UMC.
Su Yuanshan was introducing the concept almost five years early.
He didn't know how to implement copper interconnects himself—but he knew the direction.
Since copper diffused easily into silicon dioxide and had poor adhesion, a barrier layer was needed around the copper lines. Before electroplating the copper, a thin copper seed layer had to be formed on the process circuit, usually by physical vapor deposition (PVD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), or atomic layer deposition (ALD).
After the seed layer was formed, copper could be electroplated, and the interconnects finalized through polishing.
Currently, Chen Jianguo was rapidly studying related knowledge and traveling around the country visiting experts in the field.
As the one who proposed the project, Su Yuanshan could only provide financial support.
The father and son parted ways beneath the office building. Su Xinghe was busy finalizing technical reports for the 16-bit microcontroller project—and, of course, making money for Yuanchip.
Meanwhile, Su Yuanshan headed to the lab to continue his experiments.
Now, the various laboratories at the Tech Park were booked solid. Besides Yuanchip's own projects, UESTC, Provincial University, and Polytechnic Institute had all submitted experimental applications. Although these schools had labs of their own, in terms of equipment quality and completeness, Yuanchip's newly built Tech Park was unmatched.
As a result, even Su Yuanshan had to queue for lab time.
Entering the lab, he saw a familiar figure at the Hall effect experimental setup.
"Senior Sister Qu Hui?" Su Yuanshan called softly.
Qu Hui, with her usual short hair, was busy analyzing data with a technician. Hearing his voice, she turned and smiled at him. "I heard you're working on the Hall effect too?"
"Yeah, but I'm just messing around. You go ahead," Su Yuanshan replied with a smile, then asked, "What's your experiment about?"
"We're analyzing interference issues in Hall sensors," Qu Hui said, walking over. "It's for the servo motor team."
"Oh, I see! I'll wait then," Su Yuanshan said, pausing. "Hall effect test equipment is pretty cheap. We should just buy a few more sets."
Immediately, someone from the lab piped up, "Boss Su, how about buying a few more atomic force microscopes too?"
Another voice chimed in, "And scanning electron microscopes while you're at it!"
"..." Su Yuanshan was speechless.
The Tech Park had two main physics labs—one focused on optics and the other, where he was now, was supposed to specialize in condensed matter physics.
Now, it had basically become a general-purpose lab, crammed with every kind of basic experiment.
Su Yuanshan could only shake his head in exasperation.
Seeing that the others were preparing to draw up equipment wishlists, he quickly said goodbye to Qu Hui and slipped away.
Just as he was about to leave the lab, a familiar small head peeked in through the door.
"Yezi?"
"Brother Xiaoshan," Ye Rudai said, surprised but delighted. "What a coincidence."
"Yeah," Su Yuanshan chuckled, stepping up beside her. "You here for experiments?"
"No, just checking some data," Ye Rudai said, glancing inside. "I'm verifying whether the experimental results match the simulation functions."
Su Yuanshan nodded warmly, "Alright, go ahead. I'll wait for you, and then we'll go upstairs together."
"Got it!" Ye Rudai responded crisply, then trotted toward the back of the lab.
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