146: Chapter 146 The Key to China's Transformation from a Manufacturing Power to a Technological Superpower!

In Beijing, at the Institute of Optoelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"Old Zhao, this time I've gambled with you. If that equipment at the Haicheng Institute of Optics and Machinery is ruined by the modifications, I'm coming to you for it!"

The director of the Institute of Optoelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who is also the most authoritative academician in the domestic optoelectronics field, Academician Yu Fei, looked at Zhao Chengping with a chuckle and said jokingly.

"Get lost, get lost. You've taken the benefits, but if the equipment gets ruined, you want to come to me for it? There's no such thing as a free lunch!" Zhao Chengping said with annoyance.

"That's not fair. What do you mean I've taken all the benefits? Nothing is set in stone yet. Let's wait until that young man actually modifies the equipment before we talk!" Academician Yu Fei widened his eyes, then suddenly seemed to remember something, and his brows furrowed slightly.

"There's one thing I find quite strange. You old guy have always been steady. How come this time you came to me for the sake of a young man?"

"Is that young man your student? That's not right. I remember you haven't taken students for several years, and his major doesn't match yours either. You're almost retired, what are you fussing about?" Academician Yu Fei felt more and more that something was wrong, and he looked at Zhao Chengping, his eyes full of doubt.

Hearing this, Zhao Chengping was silent for a moment, then his expression became serious.

"For us old guys, where is there ever a real retirement? Even if we retire, if there's a mission, even if we're lying in a hospital bed, we still have to drag our IV drips and charge forward!" He shook his head.

Thinking of Zhou Fan, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

"I really think highly of this young man. He contributed a lot to the rocket engineering project I'm in charge of. In just a few months, he provided us with two new materials. His talent is the greatest I have ever seen in my life!"

"Developed two new materials in a few months? That's indeed quite impressive. But... is this person in materials science? Why is he switching to optoelectronics now?" Academician Yu Fei was a bit surprised, but soon fell into doubt again.

"It shouldn't be considered switching fields. It's said that he has developed a Transparent Ceramic Crystal Material and has already produced a high-end optical lens. He might just be interested in the lithography machine!"

Zhao Chengping smiled, though he was actually nervous inside. He didn't doubt Zhou Fan's ability, but he had heard from Chang Hongsheng that this young man seemingly had just come into contact with the field of optics and wasn't even familiar with the equipment.

Although he had produced an optical lens, the main reason for his success was likely due to the material.

Therefore, by helping Zhou Fan this time, he was actually taking a gamble. He really didn't have any certainty about whether it would succeed.

"Just because he's interested in the lithography machine, you let me hand over a piece of cutting-edge equipment for him to modify?" Academician Yu Fei widened his eyes, suddenly feeling like he had fallen into a trap, and looked at Zhao Chengping in surprise.

The reason he agreed to the equipment modification application from the Haicheng Institute of Optics and Machinery this time was largely because he trusted Zhao Chengping's judgment.

In his mind, the person his old friend favored shouldn't be wrong, but he never expected that the young man recommended by Zhao Chengping was actually just an amateur who switched fields halfway! At this moment, his brows furrowed tightly!

"What are you panicking for? Since I'm involved in this matter, if any problems arise, I will naturally bear them with you. You need to have more confidence in young people!" Zhao Chengping said calmly.

Things had reached this point; there was no point in dwelling on whether this decision was correct. Now, he could only choose to trust Zhou Fan.

"But you..." Academician Yu Fei's brows were still tightly furrowed, but before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a rapid ringing of his phone. He glanced at it and then answered the call.

"Hello, this is Academician Yu Fei!" "What? It succeeded!!" Academician Yu Fei suddenly stood up abruptly.

"Okay, I understand!" Hanging up the phone, Academician Yu Fei's eyes still held a trace of astonishment, and he couldn't help but look at Zhao Chengping.

"What happened?" Zhao Chengping saw that Academician Yu Fei's expression was clearly off and couldn't help but ask.

"News came from Sea City. That piece of equipment at the Institute of Optics and Machinery... it seems to have been successfully modified!" Academician Yu Fei's eyes still held a trace of astonishment.

"It was modified so quickly??" Surprise appeared on Zhao Chengping's face, and then his eyes lit up.

"I told you, Little Zhou definitely wouldn't have any problems!" He nodded with a chuckle, clearly in a very good mood.

"It's been less than a month, and such a high-end piece of equipment was actually modified. This young man is truly extraordinary!" Academician Yu Fei couldn't help but exclaim.

Originally, he had only held a wait-and-see attitude because of his connection with Zhao Chengping. He never expected that the young man named Zhou Fan would actually succeed, and it only took him less than a month.

Something that even their Institute of Optoelectronics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences couldn't do had actually been accomplished by a young man??

He knew very well what the success of this equipment modification meant. If the 45-nanometer lithography technology could truly achieve a breakthrough, it would definitely be a qualitative leap for China's entire high-end precision industry!

Even if it still couldn't truly catch up with the advanced technology of Western countries, at least there was hope.

The gap in the field of lithography machines between China and Western countries is too large. This is not only the pain of their Institute of Optoelectronics but also the goal that all relevant fields within the Chinese Academy of Sciences are struggling to catch up with.

Once a breakthrough in 45-nanometer lithography technology is achieved, it means the country will have the capability to produce high-end chips, thereby making it possible to break through the technological blockades of Western countries and further achieve independent control in the field of high-end manufacturing.

Not only that, as the underlying support for digitalization and intelligence, the lithography machine will influence the progress of many high-end technologies. If they can truly catch up with Western countries in this field, perhaps they can become a driving force in the future Fourth Industrial Revolution.

He deeply understood that a breakthrough in lithography technology was never just a technological breakthrough of a single piece of equipment.

It was a key step that could allow China to transform from a manufacturing giant into a technological powerhouse, and it was the absolute core technology that could truly allow China to occupy a place in the global high-end industry!

"Now you don't have anything to worry about, right?" Zhao Chengping watched Academician Yu Fei's changing expressions and naturally understood some of his inner thoughts.

The reason he had made such a hasty decision was, after all, because he saw the possibility of the future.

He was a researcher and knew deeply that in technological R&D, the emergence of a possibility might represent a true breakthrough in that technology.

If the cost of just one machine could be exchanged for this possibility, he believed it was absolutely worth it!

And now, he had undoubtedly won the gamble!

"No, I have to go to Sea City!" Academician Yu Fei was silent for a moment, then spoke in a deep voice, his tone carrying a trace of solemnity.

The modification of that laser equipment concerned the possibility of a breakthrough in 45-nanometer lithography technology; how could he possibly sit still?

"How about you? Do you want to come along?" Then he turned his head to look at Zhao Chengping.

"I don't understand lithography technology, why would I go?" Zhao Chengping smiled and shook his head gently.

"However, if you're really going, you could help me pass a message to that little guy, Zhou Fan, and tell him that he is welcome here anytime!"

"You old guy, you aren't trying to poach him, are you?" Academician Yu Fei looked at Zhao Chengping suspiciously.

"If only I could poach him!" Zhao Chengping didn't explain, just smiled helplessly.

"???" Academician Yu Fei was even more confused. Could there really be someone in this world that this old guy couldn't poach??