151: Chapter 151 An Unexpected Surprise from the Sea of ​​Stars!

Haicheng Microelectronics.

R&D Department Laboratory.

Li Hui frowned as he watched the busy crowd in the laboratory, unable to help but sigh inwardly.

A month had passed, and although their R&D team had been working day and night, their progress was unsatisfactory and very limited.

In fact, he had anticipated this from the beginning; how could the core technology of a 45nm Lithography Machine be so easy to break through? Even the technical iteration of some sub-projects required a significant amount of time.

“General Manager Li, our progress is too slow. Never mind breaking through 45nm technology within a year; at the current rate, it might not even be possible in two or three years!”

Ye Zhenfeng, the team leader of R&D Project Group 1, came to Li Hui's side and said in a deep voice, his tone carrying a hint of gravity.

Project Group 1 was the strongest R&D team in the R&D department.

Even so, in the past month, the progress of the high-precision sensor iteration technology that his project group was responsible for had only reached 20%.

There was still a long way to go before a breakthrough.

He knew very well that even with day and night overtime, it was simply impossible to complete the breakthroughs for all the sub-technologies within a year at the current pace.

“Even if it's not possible, we must give it our all...” Li Hui smiled bitterly.

He knew better than anyone that this was an almost impossible task, but the hard order from above had come down. If they couldn't complete it... he might just have to pack up and leave.

Moreover, Fanmi had already signed a military-style pledge to take on the development and optimization of the three core technologies: optical components, light source technology, and equipment operating systems.

If they had such courage, how could they back down!

“Ours is relatively simple, yet our progress is so slow. I'm afraid it's even harder for Fanmi, right?” Ye Zhenfeng suddenly spoke again.

“One year, Fanmi really dares to say that. How could it be possible!”

He looked at Li Hui, feeling conflicted.

They were professionals in semiconductor research, while Fanmi, as far as he knew, was just a mobile phone company, and he had never heard of them being involved in the semiconductor industry before.

To put it bluntly, they could only be considered amateur players who entered the field halfway.

An amateur player had signed a military-style pledge to solve the three core technologies of the 45nm Lithography Machine within a year; just thinking about it made it seem like a fantasy!

“I don't know if Fanmi can do it, but we must deliver a result that satisfies those above for our research task!” Li Hui said in a deep voice.

“The 45nm Lithography Machine is the core technology for high-end industries in the coming years. If we can achieve a breakthrough, it will be of great significance to the company and even all of China!”

“Whether we succeed is another matter; we must give it our all!”

Although he didn't have much confidence either, he was holding his breath inside.

Even if he knew it was impossible, he couldn't give up!

Haicheng Microelectronics was not just a technology company; it was the only lithography machine manufacturer in China, and it could even be said to represent the highest achievement in China's lithography machine field. One could imagine how heavy the burden on their shoulders was.

Furthermore, even Fanmi had the courage to sign a military-style pledge.

As professionals, they couldn't lose to Fanmi, a company that had entered the field halfway!

It wouldn't look good on them.

“But... technology iteration and optimization require debugging of equipment and manufacturing processes. We don't even have a wafer fab for deep cooperation; there's no way to do it!”

Ye Zhenfeng sighed again, his heart full of bitterness.

“Then find a way; we can't just give up. I will talk to General Manager Qin again about the cooperation with the wafer fab. You focus on solving the technical problems first!”

Li Hui glanced at him, his tone becoming serious.

“Yes!”

Ye Zhenfeng's heart stirred. He gritted his teeth and turned to leave.

...

A jeep was driving on the road.

Inside the car, Zhou Fan had a serious expression and was on the phone.

“Engineer Lin, how is the progress of the lithography machine control system? Is it going smoothly?”

“Not bad. With your upgrade plan and general optimization direction, we are confident in completing the system upgrade within half a year...” Lin Wenwu's voice came from the phone.

“Good. One thing to note: the total control system of the lithography machine is very important for the integration of each subsystem. You must ensure the control precision of every subsystem. According to the standard requirements, there can be no compromises at all!”

Zhou Fan nodded gently, and after a little thought, he reminded him again.

The complexity of the lithography machine control system was even more complex than chip design and mobile operating systems, with every module needing to be controlled down to the nanometer level.

Moreover, many of the technologies involved needed to avoid foreign patented technologies to achieve R&D breakthroughs, and the difficulty increased geometrically.

To be honest, he had been worried earlier about whether Lin Wenwu's team could handle it.

“Rest assured, Engineer Zhou, we know the importance of this project!!”

On the other end of the phone, Lin Wenwu had a serious expression and promised in a deep voice.

When he received this task, he was actually unsure, as the integrated control software for a 45nm Lithography Machine was definitely a major project.

It was even harder to handle than the previous self-developed system and chips.

But after receiving the optimization plan and technical breakthrough direction that Zhou Fan sent back simultaneously, his heart settled down. Originally, they had expected to complete the project's research within a year.

But after working on it for a month, he found the progress unexpectedly gratifying.

Even he himself felt a bit surprised!

“Then I'll wait for your good news!”

A smile appeared on Zhou Fan's face, and his tone became much lighter.

“Rest assured and leave it to us!!”

“...”

The call ended.

Zhou Fan turned his head to look at the scenery flying by outside the car window, feeling very good.

During this time, because he had been researching light source technology, he hadn't paid much attention to Lin Wenwu's side, and he hadn't expected such an unexpected surprise.

He also realized that after experiencing several major battles, the software R&D department of Fanmi Technology was no longer what it used to be, especially the core Xinghai team led by Lin Wenwu, which had grown tremendously.

In terms of comprehensive strength, even on a global scale, it was already at the level of a top software engineering team. It could be seen from this project that they had extremely strong combat effectiveness.

He couldn't help but feel a little happy.

Lin Wenwu's team was truly capable of handling things on their own now!

This was definitely good news for him!

It could save him a lot of trouble.