423: Chapter 423 Online Interview

"I will personally participate in the Foundation Review Committee interview. Please invite Professor Zhou over as well. Let Professor Li Jiahui and Manager Chen sit in together; let's see just how good these overseas experts really are."

December 28th. The online interviews officially began. A new round of an arms race based on human technological reserves had officially kicked off, though with Transsion's calculations on all sides, they had unexpectedly become the biggest winner.

The first interviewee to connect was James Wilson, 42 years old, with a PhD in Physics from MIT. The information prepared by Wang Hua indicated that this person could be poached.

After all, his resume was ridiculously impressive: 35 SCI papers, 23 authorized patents, and three-time recipient of Intel's highest technical achievement award.

When Shen Fei saw the materials at the time, he immediately had some devious thoughts and prepared to poach him directly.

After Wilson connected to the video, he appeared very enthusiastic, but beneath that enthusiasm, he maintained a sense of respect.

Moreover, Shen Fei seemed to be able to tell that this Mr. Wilson was genuinely interested in Transsion, as if he were here to find a job, rather than for some so-called espionage plan.

"Mr. Wilson, your resume is outstanding." Shen Fei flipped through the resume again on camera and nodded once more.

At that moment, the "intermediary" from the United States on the other side of the video connection was monitoring this unique interview. Seeing that Shen Fei was satisfied, the other party breathed a sigh of relief. After all, this was top-tier talent!

"I see you've worked at Intel for so many years and have won many awards. We have no connection with Intel. As a researcher, why are you interested in Transsion's future today? Judging by your income at Intel, you shouldn't need this part-time income. So what is the reason that led you to want to join our plan?"

Although the "intermediary" nearby had started to get nervous, the smile on Wilson's face did not disappear. He continued to say with a smile: "Because basic science is the foundation of any discipline. According to the current public announcements, I discovered a project regarding optical quantum chips. To be honest, it was this project that attracted me. Mr. Shen, you must have heard of Moore's Law, right?"

Shen Fei nodded. As an industry practitioner, he had of course heard of this famous name! However, Transsion would not be affected by Moore's Law because he had a cheat!

Seeing Shen Fei's response, Wilson answered with increasing excitement, seemingly implying something: "Intel's R&D direction is becoming increasingly conservative. In the last two years, I have proposed Extreme Ultraviolet process improvement plans multiple times, only to be rejected by headquarters three times. Furthermore, I also proposed basic R&D for carbon-based chips, and that project was also cut. Because they think the risk is too high, the investment is too large, and the return cycle is too long. But I feel this direction is correct. The Future Foundation's idea is very good, so I want to make a contribution to the semiconductor industry. If I discover some promising talent, Mr. Shen shouldn't mind if I poach them, right?"

The "intermediary" nearby, who had been on edge, instantly relaxed upon hearing that last sentence. Fortunately... he had almost been 'knifed' by the people over at Intel.

Shen Fei just smiled upon hearing this and pointed at the screen: "Mr. Wilson, it seems you have come with a purpose!"

"Mr. Shen, you should understand, there is an old Chinese saying: 'No profit, no early rising!' Since we chose to join, it must be for a certain purpose. I just don't know if you are willing to agree to this purpose?"

Shen Fei didn't say anything, just nodded. Professor Li Jiahui on the side smiled: "With so many projects, we definitely can't handle them all. If Intel can accept certain projects, that is certainly fine. After all, this would be of huge help to our entire semiconductor industry! However, Mr. Wilson, I still need to test you with a question to confirm whether your contribution can outweigh your little ulterior motives."

Wilson nodded and did not refuse... because he was very clear that the other party had understood the meaning behind his words! After all, if there weren't an agent nearby, he would have definitely excitedly discussed Transsion's innovation in Quadruple Patterning with Professor Li Jiahui just now. Because he had also proposed similar ideas at Intel, but the cost and yield of Quadruple Patterning were too low, so it was likewise rejected.

"In the paper you published in 2012 regarding defect detection for extreme ultraviolet lithography masks, you proposed a machine learning-based optical proximity correction method. Has that method been verified on an actual production line?"

Wilson's eyebrows furrowed; the difficulty of this question instantly increased. So, he adjusted his sitting posture slightly, switched to a more comfortable position, and began to explain the engineering implementation details of that method in detail. Of course, he didn't mention the specific technology, but reported some ideas and parameters from the actual production line. It was all public or semi-public information.

After talking for about 5 minutes, Professor Li Jiahui confirmed it; it was similar to the results they had derived, so there shouldn't be any fabrication. Finally, Professor Li Jiahui nodded at Shen Fei... The agent on the other side of the phone also clenched his fist and made a 'nice' gesture. But what he didn't know was that this was not Professor Li Jiahui indicating the interview was passed, but rather that he was 80% confident in poaching Wilson.

After a brief pause, Professor Zhou on the side asked a question: "Your scheme actually has a limitation; for structures with a linewidth below 20nm, the error rate increases significantly. How would you solve this problem? Mr. Wilson, please don't overthink it. We are doing basic project exploration. Every investment in the semiconductor industry starts at 1 billion, and the funds involved are the largest, so we must carefully consider it. We can ask a bit more specifically. If you are unwilling to answer, that is no problem."

On the other side of the phone, Wilson did indeed pause, not because he couldn't answer, but because he didn't expect the other party to have digested his paper to this degree. After all, many people in his team didn't understand it. For the first time, he felt the value of a kindred spirit, only this kindred spirit was in China. And he also had corresponding tasks... This... from ancient times, loyalty and filial piety are hard to have both.

"I haven't solved this answer myself. But I have a preliminary idea. If combined with multi-layer masks and adaptive optical algorithms, perhaps the error can be controlled within an acceptable range. This requires deeper experimental verification, but our company does not support it."

After Professor Zhou took off his glasses, he looked at Wilson and also nodded at Shen Fei. "This answer is very good. Not because your scheme is perfect, but because you acknowledged its limitations. Good, scientists know where their boundaries are, and this will be of great help to the subsequent investment."