11: Chapter 11: A Naked, Devastating Dimensional Reduction Attack!

Steady-state Micro-focused Light Source?

These seven words were like a thunderclap, crashing into Wei Jiancheng's mind.

His entire figure froze in an instant, his thin, withered frame completely tensing up.

At this moment, he was in no hurry to refute.

Taken apart, the words in Lin Yuan's statement were all basic terms in physics.

But combined together, they formed a brand-new concept.

Steady-state.

Micro-focused.

Wei Jiancheng subconsciously chewed on these words as countless pieces of physical knowledge rapidly flashed back and reorganized in his mind.

Suddenly, Wei Jiancheng's breath hitched, and his fingers tightened unconsciously, his knuckles turning white from the grip.

The next moment, he abruptly looked up, his gaze like lightning, shooting directly at Lin Yuan.

He figured it out!

This young man...

He actually wants to use a Particle Accelerator as the light source for a Photolithography Machine?!

What a crazy idea!

But this crazy idea wasn't born today.

As early as decades ago, the world's top scientific researchers had walked this path, but they ultimately ended up battered and bruised, declaring failure in a state of utter defeat.

In the final analysis, the light spot produced by a Synchrotron Radiation accelerator was too large, the energy was divergent, and the conversion efficiency was pitifully low, making it completely unable to meet the requirements of industrial production.

Not to mention the massive size of the equipment and the staggering costs involved.

This was why, as soon as the later Laser-Produced Plasma Light Source technology appeared, the accelerator proposal was quickly cast aside and universally recognized as a complete dead end.

Wei Jiancheng's throat bobbed, words of reprimand already at the tip of his tongue.

However, the two prefixes Lin Yuan proposed were like two invisible hands, firmly clutching his throat.

Steady-state.

Micro-focused.

If...

A subversive thought caused his breathing to stall.

If the electron beam could form stable and highly concentrated micro-bunches on a microscopic scale?

If they could be made to produce Coherent Radiation within a specially designed periodic magnetic field?

Then the problem of energy divergence would be solved!

The intensity of the light would also explode exponentially!

The energy conversion efficiency would completely crush the existing laser-produced plasma solutions!

This...

This wasn't just feasible!

Once successful, this would be a naked dimensional strike against existing technology!

In the laboratory, one could hear a pin drop.

The researchers who had originally been standing with their arms crossed, waiting to see a joke, all lowered their arms in unison, the mockery on their faces replaced by shock.

They were among the top scientific researchers in Xia Country.

What Wei Jiancheng could think of, they could too!

Beside an instrument, a researcher wearing thick-lensed glasses moved his lips, muttering to himself.

“Coherent Radiation... micro-focused... My god, as long as the longitudinal distribution of the electron beam can be controlled...”

The hand of the female researcher next to him shook, and a thick notebook fell to the ground with a sharp 'thwack'.

But she didn't pay it any mind at all, her eyes simply staring fixedly at Lin Yuan.

A misconception.

This was a mental misconception that had plagued the entire world for decades!

Everyone had viewed the accelerator solution as the trash of history, dismissing it with disdain.

Who would have thought that by just adding a simple premise, this dead end would suddenly become a grand highway to the heavens!

This undergraduate...

With just a light toss of a concept, he had completely upended the technical route this group of people had spent countless days and nights agonizing over!

In Lin Yuan's consciousness, the blue progress bar representing confidence once again surged forward with violent momentum.

[Current Total Confidence: 3.5%... 4.2%... 5%!]

Looking at the wildly growing numbers on the progress bar, Lin Yuan felt reassured.

He didn't speak further, just stood quietly in place, leaving the entire stage to this group of scientists who were shocked into silence.

He had to wait.

Wait for them to convince themselves.

“You...”

Finally, Wei Jiancheng was the first to move.

He took a step forward, his voice dry.

“How did you think of this?”

His voice was no longer sharp or filled with hostility; instead, it carried an irrepressible desire for scientific exploration.

Lin Yuan met his gaze and smiled.

“Can I say it was just good luck?”

“I just happened to browse through some old papers from the nineties regarding Synchrotron Radiation, and then I followed that train of thought to its logical conclusion to get this hypothesis.”

These words were half-true and half-false, yet extremely persuasive.

Scientific progress was often like this.

Countless great discoveries were built upon a re-examination of the failed experiences of predecessors.

Wei Jiancheng fell silent, looking at Lin Yuan with an unreadable expression.

Luck?

A casual mention of luck had opened a door to a new world for Xia Country's technology.

After a long while, Wei Jiancheng exhaled a heavy breath of turbid air, and in those cloudy eyes, the flame of 'hope' began to burn fiercely.

He suddenly turned around and barked gruffly at the group of researchers who were still in a daze.

“What are you all standing there for?!”

“Is all the work finished?!”

The researchers shuddered, snapping out of their daze as if from a dream, and lowered their heads, busying themselves back at their respective posts.

But everyone's peripheral vision, intentionally or not, glanced toward Lin Yuan with curiosity.

Wei Jiancheng ignored them and turned back to Lin Yuan, his face showing an extremely unnatural, even stiff, expression.

“Lin Yuan, right?”

“Just now, it was my fault.”

His tone was dry, but the content was an apology.

“I... apologize to you.”

Lin Yuan quickly waved his hands.

“Director Wei, you're being too formal. Your reaction was normal; anyone in your position wouldn't easily believe the words of a young greenhorn.”

He paused and added a sentence.

“But our ultimate goal is the same, isn't it?”

Wei Jiancheng looked at him fixedly for a few seconds, the lines on that stiff face softening slightly.

“Good lad.”

He spat out those two words, then turned directly to look at Luo Yang.

“Director Luo, I'll take him.”

“I'll personally take him to handle the onboarding procedures; you can head back first.”

Luo Yang looked at the transformed Wei Jiancheng, his mouth twitching, not knowing whether to laugh or be annoyed for a moment.

Just a moment ago he looked like he wanted to eat someone, and now he's already starting to chase people away.

But that was Wei Jiancheng's style.

Pure, direct, and holding technology above all else.

At the same time, Luo Yang looked toward Lin Yuan, his evaluation of this young man rising several levels once again.

He thought he was here to keep order, but he didn't expect that from beginning to end, he was just a witness.

A witness to how this young man, single-handedly, completely conquered the toughest nut to crack in the Xia Academy of Sciences.

No wonder both the Dean and Elder Long regarded him so highly!

“Ahem.”

Luo Yang cleared his throat, finding his own rhythm again.

“Director Wei, don't be in such a hurry to chase me away.”

He took a step forward and added with a smile:

“Before I came, the Dean had some words he insisted I pass along.”

Wei Jiancheng waved his hand, his speaking speed as fast as a machine gun:

“Fine, fine, say what you have to say quickly!”

“I still need to immediately organize a team to conduct a theoretical feasibility deduction for this new proposal!”

Luo Yang didn't mind his attitude, just looked at Wei Jiancheng and relayed Dean Chen's words syllable by syllable.

“The Dean said that regarding Comrade Lin Yuan's work arrangements, the institute must grant him the highest level of freedom.”

He paused slightly, emphasizing his tone.

“At the same time, all resources of the Academy will also be...”

“...heavily tilted toward him personally!”