47: Chapter 47 A Brand New Track

As Lin Yuan's voice trailed off, time seemed to stand still for a moment.

Immediately after, the press conference hall was completely engulfed in an avalanche of white flashes.

"Click—click—click—"

The sound of shutters merged into a deafening torrent, frantically pounding against everyone's eardrums.

The reporters had gone completely wild.

Driven entirely by instinct, they aimed all their lenses fixedly at that young face on the podium.

"The future!"

He said this is the future!

This composure and confidence, which transcended the entire era, made every media person in the audience smell the scent of blood sufficient to rewrite the history of semiconductors.

Tomorrow's front-page headline was set!

However, Lin Yuan clearly had no intention of stopping there.

He looked at the faces below, twisted by shock, and tapped his fingers lightly on the table.

"The Light Source is just the beginning."

This voice, transmitted through the sound system, clearly overpowered all the noise at the scene.

"As everyone knows, a top-tier Photolithography Machine has three core systems: the Light Source, the Objective Lens System, and the wafer stage."

A playful arc curled at the corners of Lin Yuan's mouth.

"Since we are holding a progress report meeting today."

"Naturally, we wouldn't have come with only one achievement."

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole venue was in an uproar.

There's more?!

Everyone's heart was gripped tightly by an invisible giant hand.

The image on the large screen changed in response.

A microscopic structural diagram full of cyberpunk aesthetics leaped onto the screen.

It consisted of layers of microstructures as dense and regular as a honeycomb, radiating the pinnacle beauty of industry and order under the perspective of an electron microscope.

"Regarding the Objective Lens System, we have also abandoned the traditional refractive optical path that relies on lens polishing and assembly."

"What you are seeing now is the metalens microstructure unit prototype that we have successfully trial-produced."

"Simply put, by designing tiny 'antennas' on these artificial surfaces, it can modulate the phase, amplitude, and polarization of light at the nanoscale at will."

He paused and threw out the final, subversive conclusion.

"This means that the future Photolithography Machine Objective Lens will no longer be a 'big cannon' stacked with a dozen lenses."

"Instead, it will be a few... microstructured lenses as thin as cicada wings."

An uncontrollable commotion erupted at the scene again.

In the live broadcast room, countless "Holy sh*t" comments could no longer describe the audience's mood.

"As for the wafer stage."

Lin Yuan didn't give anyone a chance to digest or think; the image on the big screen switched for the third time.

A set of complex dynamic data monitoring charts replaced that artwork-like microstructure.

"Currently, the static levitation of the magnetic levitation single-degree-of-freedom has been completed."

"Furthermore, we have also completed the most critical step—the first joint debugging with atomic interferometer static positioning!"

"Traditional laser interferometers are affected by air disturbances, temperature, and even a cough. But the cold atom interference technology we have chosen will never have this problem!"

Lin Yuan's voice suddenly rose, each word sounding like a hammer, carrying an indisputable confidence.

"The holistic breakthrough of these three core technologies means that Xia Country is no longer a follower in the field of Photolithography Machines!"

His gaze was like a torch, scanning the entire venue.

"We have already stood firm on a brand new track!"

This last sentence turned into an invisible thunderclap, exploding in the depths of the minds of countless people around the world and in the press conference hall!

The internet in Xia Country went completely crazy.

"Three... all three major components have initial breakthrough results?! Am I f*cking dreaming?!"

"Dimensional reduction strike! This is the real f*cking dimensional reduction strike!"

"Light Source changed tracks, Objective Lens turned into cicada wings, wafer stage uses atomic positioning... I would call this the Three-Body Problem alien arrival press conference!"

"Where are those who were mocking before? Come out and walk around if you have nothing to do!"

Compared to the tsunami-like carnival of domestic netizens, those true professionals in the field were staring blankly at the screen, their minds completely blank.

At the press conference scene.

Soon, hands were raised one after another in the press section, signaling questions.

The host called on a female reporter from a mainstream domestic media outlet in the front row.

She stood up, holding her voice recorder high, her voice filled with uncontrollable excitement.

"Hello, Chief Engineer Lin!"

"I would like to ask, does the series of earth-shattering breakthroughs that Xia Country has achieved in the field of Photolithography Machines this time... have a direct relationship with you personally?"

She summoned her courage and asked the question that had been hovering in everyone's minds, but which they couldn't quite believe.

"In other words, is the source of the 'major theoretical breakthrough' that the authorities were previously vague about... you?"

"Is this also the fundamental reason why the Xia Academy of Sciences broke the rules to specially hire you and appoint you as the Chief Technical Engineer?"

This question, like a spotlight, shone on the core mystery of the press conference.

The noise in the entire press conference hall disappeared rapidly.

In the live broadcast room, the scrolling speed of the barrage slowed down suddenly; everyone was waiting.

Waiting for an answer they had guessed for a long time but never dared to be sure of.

Lin Yuan did not rush to answer.

He just turned his head and glanced at Chen Jingshan beside him.

Chen Jingshan understood his look.

This leader of the Xia Country scientific community reached out, slowly pulled the microphone in front of him, and nodded slightly to the female reporter still standing below the stage.

"I will answer this question."

The press conference hall was quiet for a moment.

Chen Jingshan tapped his fingers lightly on the table twice.

"Comrade Lin Yuan is the most outstanding scientific research talent we at the Xia Academy of Sciences have encountered in these years."

His opening had no embellishments, just a plain statement.

"In the field of core theory for Photolithography Machines, he possesses extremely deep attainments."

"As for how deep—"

Chen Jingshan raised his hand and pointed at the giant LED screen behind him.

"All the achievements you have seen at today's press conference."

"Are the best proof."

Chen Jingshan did not give everyone too much time to digest.

"Therefore, specially hiring Comrade Lin Yuan as a young researcher at the Xia Academy of Sciences, and appointing him as the Chief Technical Engineer of the Lithography Core Technology Breakthrough Task Force—"

He withdrew his hand from the direction of the screen and placed it on the microphone.

"This decision was very correct."

Four words, spoken with resounding force.

The live broadcast worldwide froze on the two people on the podium.

One is the titan of the Xia Country scientific community.

The other is a young man only twenty years old.

The barrage was silent for nearly two seconds, and then it surged up with unprecedented density, covering the screen.

Meanwhile, in the middle-back row of the press section, a blonde, blue-eyed foreign reporter slowly stood up, aiming the microphone in his hand at the podium.

"Chief Engineer Lin."

"Since Xia Country's technical route is so advanced, I would like to ask—"

"When can Xia Country's Photolithography Machine actually be built? Is there a clear timetable?"