Chapter 233 Su Yuanshan's Small Wish
Photolithography Joint Research Center.
Su Yuanshan had been summoned here by a stammering call from Zheng Zhichuan — during the call, Zheng had only vaguely mentioned that friction had arisen between the photonic source team and Lin Bencheng's team in Silicon Valley.
The moment he heard that, Su Yuanshan panicked. He immediately grabbed a bicycle downstairs and pedaled straight to the photonic source lab.
However, upon hearing what the so-called friction was about, he finally let out a small sigh of relief.
...
"So you're saying Lin Bencheng's side claims, based on his technical intuition, that the KBBF crystal cannot be used for DUV light sources?" Su Yuanshan asked Zhao Kaidong.
Zhao Kaidong, chain-smoking one cigarette after another, nodded heavily. "Yes. But abroad, frequency-doubling technology based on KBBF has already emerged... and we've also made some breakthroughs here."
Su Yuanshan pressed his lips together and frowned deeply. He knew that KBBF could be exported now, and the government was even actively encouraging the sharing of this technology internationally.
"Is Old Lin basing it only on intuition?"
"No..." Zhao Kaidong said, shaking his head. "Based on currently available light source data, KBBF crystals can't yet sustain the high-power continuous laser output needed for lithography."
"But we believe... that with improvements, high-power usage is achievable."
Su Yuanshan exhaled softly. "I believe it too..."
He knew that in the future, KBBF would never become a mainstream lithography light source —
Or rather, it would never even break into the mainstream.
When he had initially pushed Zhao Kaidong to work on KBBF, it was a gamble.
He had hoped for a breakthrough that would allow DUV lithography to push down to 5nm using immersion techniques, bypassing the massive obstacles of 193nm systems.
Now that Lin Bencheng, a master of optics, had directly objected... Su Yuanshan genuinely didn't know what judgment to make.
One thing he was sure of: KBBF would definitely have some application — if not in lithography, then surely in high-powered laser systems.
After a long silence, Su Yuanshan said quietly,
"Alright. Given that Old Lin's team has limited resources and must also consider political risks under extreme conditions, we can't put all our eggs in one basket.
We'll proceed on two tracks."
"Recruit more optics graduate students into Yuanxin during the upcoming hiring season.
And file additional funding requests."
Zhao Kaidong sighed heavily.
As a scientist, his instinct was always to push through technical barriers.
But he also understood Su Yuanshan's position — if after all this, KBBF proved unsuitable for lithography, then Su Yuanshan's investment would have gone down the drain.
Yuanxin, after all, was a business.
Blindly charging forward despite clear warnings from experts was not good corporate practice.
"Alright. We'll walk on two legs," Zhao Kaidong said.
"Thank you, Uncle Zhao." Su Yuanshan turned to Zheng Zhichuan. "Uncle Zheng, how's your side doing?"
"We're doing quite well," Zheng said, his mood clearly better than Zhao's.
"All the components we ordered have passed inspection.
We should have everything assembled within three months."
Compared to Zhao Kaidong's team, Zheng Zhichuan was visibly more optimistic. His design used ultraviolet light, theoretically capable of reaching 0.5-micron resolutions.
Hearing that, Su Yuanshan's mood lifted too.
"The first step of our Long March is complete."
"Yeah, and it's really just the first step...
I'm not expecting mass-production quality yet — just a machine that can operate stably."
Back then, the lithography machine Yuanxin dragged over from Chengguang Institute was barely passable after endless tweaks —
good enough for 1-micron components, but forget about making money with it.
So now, Zheng's standards were modest:
Stability first.
With the second and third prototypes, they could start catching up to global standards.
Leaving the lab, Su Yuanshan checked the time.
Feeling a bit guilty, he didn't call Lin Bencheng directly but instead sent him an email asking for clarification.
The next day, Lin replied with a long technical explanation:
KBBF was indeed an excellent nonlinear deep-UV crystal, but under current technology, it couldn't meet lithography needs.
Maybe someday, but not yet.
So Su Yuanshan simply told him:
Keep going along your own path.
(According to ASML engineers, KBBF indeed doesn't fit lithography light source requirements. This part was written to be technically accurate...)
...
May passed quickly.
During that month, Duan Yongping officially began spearheading Yuanxin's mobile phone marketing.
It looked peaceful on the surface, but in truth, powerful undercurrents were flowing.
First, he filed to register the Vidoo trademark.
Then, he secured international megastar Arnold Schwarzenegger to endorse the new phone model —
even though Vidoo had only just finished its final design, and no prototypes existed yet.
Meanwhile, he stayed closely involved at the production line, helping resolve various technical bottlenecks and boosting efficiency.
In short, he was proving to be an extraordinary talent.
And finally, after waiting so long, Professor Su Xinghe received the long-anticipated invitation from the capital:
The Chinese Academy of Sciences had officially obtained approval from the State Council to establish a new National Academy of Engineering.
Professor Su Xinghe was among its first batch of academicians —
the only "new" name among the established giants.
A side note:
Some later generations mistakenly thought the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) was superior to the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) because CAS was established earlier.
But in fact, the admission standards for CAS were so insanely strict that engineers — even those with massive contributions — were often unfairly excluded.
Since the late '80s, a group of visionary CAS members had been campaigning to establish a dedicated Academy of Engineering for scientists focused on practical applications.
The first batch of CAE academicians included many heavyweights from CAS to boost credibility.
That's why the "double academicians" — honored by both institutions — were so highly regarded.
Professor Su Xinghe's induction into the first batch meant one thing:
He could have easily made it into the Chinese Academy of Sciences if not for his specialization in integrated circuits.
Instead, he was "shifted" into the Engineering Academy to honor his engineering achievements.
For Su Xinghe, it was an immense honor —
to stand among his heroes and peers.
And for Su Yuanshan, it was a point of deep pride.
...
Though, deep inside...
Su Yuanshan still had a tiny wish of his own:
One day, he too wanted to become an academician.
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