55: Chapter 55 14nm Lithography Machines and Chips

Ling Jing's live stream quickly returned to normal. The viewer count skyrocketed, breaking three million in the blink of an eye. The barrage covered the screen densely, filled entirely with praises for Chen Mo.

Having just banned over two hundred thousand people, Chen Mo continued playing the game, his calm demeanor making the audience exclaim how domineering he was.

"Boss Chen's heart is truly big. Just finished banning a wave of people, yet he's still playing the game so smoothly!"

"Those people totally deserved it. Boss Chen was merciful enough not to permanently ban them!"

"Go, Boss Chen! Get another chicken dinner and show us!"

As Chen Mo secured a chicken dinner for the third time with Ling Jing and Nalan Ruoshui, the live stream was flooded with endless '666' scrolling across the screen.

After three rounds, Chen Mo directly clicked to log off. Once the thrill of crushing noobs passed, the game held little interest for him.

He had just been itching to try out his newly acquired Grandmaster-level gaming skill.

For the past few months, this lousy system hadn't given him any good skills.

Ah, life is as lonely as snow!

Stretching and leaning back in his chair, he glanced around the room. Nalan Ruoshui was at school, and the other women were all busy. With no one around to chat with, he instantly felt bored and restless.

Chen Mo had logged off, but Tencent was utterly distressed. CF's top-up data plummeted dramatically, and more than half of Tencent Live's viewers had fled, all heading to Tianxing Live to watch pubg.

Thinking of this, Chen Mo couldn't help but smile at the corner of his mouth. He had already had the AI develop the hit games from his previous life. He was just waiting for the right moment to release them all. Once CF and DNF died out, Tencent Games wouldn't be able to make waves anymore.

As for the minor chaos on Tianxing Live and Xiao Zhi's little schemes, Chen Mo didn't give them a second thought. Such trivial matters weren't worth his attention. Given time, their true colors would naturally be revealed.

Chen Mo picked up his phone, scrolling to find some amusement, when a notification popped up directly:

ASML successfully developed a 14nm Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machine.

Lithography machines are the core equipment for chip manufacturing, hailed as the 'crown jewel' of the semiconductor industry. EUV lithography machines represent the pinnacle among them, relying on 13.5-nanometer extreme ultraviolet light to perform lithography.

Just the core projection objective lens consists of thirteen aspherical lenses. The surface error of each lens must be controlled within 0.3 nanometers, and it must operate in a high-vacuum environment close to space. A single device contains over 100,000 components, making its development difficulty akin to scaling the heavens.

Currently, the best domestically available is the 20nm lithography machine developed with Chen Mo's help. Compared to ASML's 14nm EUV lithography machine, it indeed lags by a whole technological generation.

Chen Mo clicked in to look, and the comment section below was already in an uproar.

The dragon haters seized the opportunity to mock relentlessly, as the current domestic lithography machine technology in the semiconductor field indeed hadn't yet reached the EUV threshold.

"Can't stop laughing. They're already at 14nm EUV, and we're still clinging to 20nm. The gap isn't just a little!"

"If you can't make it, stop boasting about independent R&D. Compared to ASML, what's lacking isn't just a bit of technology; it's the entire industrial chain!"

"What rise of the chip industry? When it comes down to it, we still can't keep up with international pace. Don't even dream of catching up in this lifetime!"

"With this 20nm technology, you still have the nerve to talk about chip independence? Just wash up and go to sleep. Face reality!"

"They casually whip up 14nm EUV, while we grind our heads to get a 20nm. That's the gap!"

Chen Mo curled his lip, sneering inwardly. These people only know how to type and mock online. They have no idea about the underlying technical challenges, let alone that he had long prepared a backup plan.

Then, losing interest, he stretched lazily, picked up his jacket, and headed out.

Downstairs, Old Xu was already waiting by the car. Seeing Chen Mo approach, he immediately opened the door:

"Boss Chen, where to?"

"Tianxing Technology Industrial Base, the research lab."

Chen Mo got into the car and spoke calmly.

Old Xu acknowledged and started the car, driving out smoothly.

The street scenes outside the window flew by in reverse. The warm spring sun shone through the window. Vehicles came and went on the road, and the trees along the street sprouted new branches.

He picked up his phone again to scroll. Just as he swiped open the interface, another notification popped up:

Intel officially announced the successful development of 14nm chips, with mass production imminent.

Wow!

These two companies are definitely in cahoots, doing this on purpose!

14nm chips are a key technological node in semiconductor processes. Compared to 20nm chips, they adopt the FinFET fin-type 3D transistor structure,

replacing traditional planar transistors. This allows for denser transistors on the chip, faster computing speeds, lower power consumption, and enables more functions to be integrated on silicon wafers of the same size. Whether for mobile processors, computer CPUs, or various high-end chips, this process can be used. It's also one of the mainstream advanced chip manufacturing technologies currently.

Intel's announcement undoubtedly stabbed another knife into the heart of Dragon Country's semiconductor industry.

Sure enough, the dragon haters in the comments became even more excited. After praising ASML, they started lauding Intel, glorifying foreign technology to the skies and trampling domestic technology into the mud.

"Intel is forever the GOAT! Said they'd make 14nm chips, and they did, and can mass-produce them. Who can match this technical prowess?"

"Look at them, then look at us. Both working on chips, but why is the gap so huge?"

"Foreign technology is still reliable. Our 20nm foundation can only be boasted about domestically!"

"Intel's move this time just grinds us into the dirt. No contest at all!"

"It's not that I worship foreign things; it's that their technology is genuinely awesome. We can't catch up even if we tried!"

"Instead of wasting time on 20nm, better learn from them, import some technology, and save ourselves the pointless struggle!"

Chen Mo looked at these comments, utterly speechless.

The manufacturing of 14nm chips is deeply tied to lithography machine technology. Without advanced EUV lithography machines, mass-producing high-performance 14nm chips is extremely difficult.

These dragon haters only know how to blindly praise foreign achievements and belittle domestic efforts. They have no idea about the hardships of independent R&D, nor do they know how much effort the teams behind the scenes have poured into developing advanced lithography machines for the country.

Old Xu glimpsed Chen Mo's expression in the rearview mirror and asked softly:

"Boss Chen, you don't look too good. Did something upset you?"

Chen Mo looked up, leaning back in his seat, and said calmly:

"Not upset, exactly. Just think these people are short-sighted, only knowing how to type on the internet."

"What do they understand? They only see the current gap, not the effort behind it. And they certainly don't know that our technology isn't limited to just what's visible now."

Old Xu smiled:

"As long as you have a plan, Boss Chen. These people are all talk, they can't stir up any real trouble."

"Mm." Chen Mo responded, his gaze turning to the window, saying nothing more.

A mere 14nm EUV lithography machine and 14nm chips? It's not like he, Chen Mo, couldn't produce them!

Couldn't do it without cheats? With cheats, if he still couldn't do it, then what was the point of having cheats in the first place!