The Red Era, the Opening University Speech

Chapter 90 Large Scale Integrated Circuits? (1.2W completed, please subscribe)

"Ah, that wild man must be beaten to death?" the aunts gathered nearby exclaimed.

After listening for a while, Li Mu realized that the aunties' voices had lowered. They stared at him, snorted in dissatisfaction, and then went to the side to talk.

Yesterday, the braised meat was given to Uncle Zhong instead of them, and many people were unhappy about it.

Li Mu smiled slightly, didn't care, and continued washing.

After washing up, Grandma Li came over and called Li Mu to have breakfast as if on cue.

Breakfast consisted of a few steamed buns and some braised pork that was left over from last night.

After Li Mu finished eating, he talked to Grandma Li and returned to school.

……

After a long class, I came to the laboratory.

Before reaching the door, Li Mu heard a heated discussion inside.

Li Mu saw Wang Ya, Liu Ze and Wang Yang standing outside the door.

In the past two days, many professors have come here one after another, and the laboratory is probably full.

"Good morning." Li Mu went over and greeted him.

Wang Ya turned around and saw that it was Li Mu. Her eyes lit up and she looked at Li Mu with admiration and said, "Good morning, Li Mu."

Li Mu had long been accustomed to Wang Ya's gaze, so he did not doubt it.

Liu Ze and Wang Yang turned their heads with slightly strange expressions and said, "Morning, Li Mu."

"What's the progress of photoresist research and development?" Li Mu asked impatiently.

After handing the notes to Xu Qing yesterday, he was looking forward to the results.

Wang Ya subtly blocked Liu Ze and Wang Yang's unnatural expressions and said:
"The student brought by the two professors from PBC Polytechnic Institute made some very valuable suggestions yesterday. The photoresist problem will be solved soon."

"Li Mu, that student looks like you, don't you think?"

Wang Ya was originally covering for Liu Ze and Wang Yang, but later on, she became a little jealous of Xu Qing.

"Haha, there are so many people in our country, it's not surprising to have a few geniuses." Li Mu said with a smile.

After that, Li Mu continued, "Now that the photoresist problem has been solved, what's the next step? Should we study thin film deposition?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Huang Xinhua's voice suddenly rang out from behind him: "I think we can take a bigger step and set our goal directly on large-scale integrated circuits!"

"Large-scale integrated circuits?" Li Mu was startled. He turned his head to look at Huang Xinhua and asked curiously, "Professor Huang, do we have the technical basis to realize this now?"

He himself only planned to make a medium-scale integrated circuit.

The standard for small-scale integrated circuits is less than 100 integrated transistors.

The standard for medium size is 100-1000.

The integration standard for large-scale integrated circuits is more than 1000 transistors.

Large-scale integration requires extremely complex processes.

Although it’s not completely impossible, it’s something that should only be studied by semiconductor research institutes!

Unless he directly gives a solution, it will probably take several efforts from this group of experts and professors, whose average age is over 60, to come up with it.

"Who gave you the confidence, huh?" Li Mu couldn't help but complain in his heart.

He hesitated and said, "Professor Huang, I think we should take one step at a time. Is this too fast?"

Huang Xinhua said with a smile: "You can't say that. Look, everyone worked together and quickly solved the photolithography process, didn't they?"

“Large-scale integrated circuits are a little bit complicated, but as long as we work hard, we may succeed.”

"Our goal is not high. We just want to achieve the minimum standard of large-scale integrated circuits and integrate 1000 transistors."

Li Mu couldn't help but look at the experts and professors inside, and found that these people really seemed to be determined to stay and do a great job.

Li Muqi asked, "Professor Huang, what methods did you use to keep so many people here?"

"But it's useless even if they stay. Our school and lab can't hold so many people. Look, they're all full."

"What means can I use? It's nothing more than everyone wants to contribute to the country's semiconductor research." Huang Xinhua said with a smile, looked at Li Mu meaningfully, and said:

"As for the lab issue, the dean has already approved that all the labs in this building will be available to us in two days at the earliest and three days at the latest."

"Other professors just need to go a little further and borrow from other schools!"

After he finished discussing it yesterday, he ran to find Qian Shuyan overnight.

When he heard that it was related to Li Mu, Qian Shuyan made a decision without hesitation and immediately applied to the Ministry of Culture and Education to form a research team.

Huang Xinhua's original plan was just to make a small-scale integrated circuit.

But Qian Shuyan thought that if they were going to do it, they might as well do it on a big scale. This would be a good opportunity to see how much of Li Mu's potential had yet to be tapped.

Li Mu didn't know that Qian Shuyan was deliberately guiding him, and could only marvel at Huang Xinhua's courage.

Huang Xinhua continued with a smile: "Since you mentioned it, it just so happens that you can take the lead in the next step of thin film deposition."

"Professor Huang, I can't do it. My level is limited." Li Mu quickly declined.

However, Huang Xinhua frowned and said, "What's wrong? I'm not asking you to come up with a complete feasible plan right away. Just talk about it casually."

"Liu Ze, Wang Yang, what are you two laughing at? You have to tell me later!"

Liu Ze and Wang Yang, whose names were called, immediately looked embarrassed, as they were considered innocent victims.

What could they say when they got there? That little bit of stuff was not enough in front of so many professors.

Lu Qian stood up and said with a smile: "Come on, come on, let's talk. Xu Qing, you can also talk later. You are young people with active minds. Maybe you can think of ideas that we can't think of."

"Don't just stand there, let's get started." Gu Ming said to Li Mu with a smile.

Others followed suit: "Almost all of the theoretical prototypes of the four key processes of integrated circuits came from you. It's only right that you start with this."

……

Listening to what the experts and professors said, Li Mu felt something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

But having said that, he couldn't just sit down without saying anything.

After thinking for a while, he said:

"The thin film deposition process is the process of forming and depositing a thin film coating on a substrate material. Its main function is to meet the needs of pattern transfer by the stripping method."

"Assuming that the photoresist has a stripping transition temperature, when the temperature is greater than a certain value, the photoresist pattern begins to soften and flow..."

"On the other hand, the directionality of deposition also directly determines whether the deposited film can be successfully peeled off, affecting the final effect."

"To sum up, I think we need to find a way to simultaneously meet the requirements of substrate heating and good deposition directionality."

……

The experts and professors in the laboratory fell silent as Li Mu spoke.

Even though I knew that Li Mu was extremely talented in semiconductor research and development, hearing about him was far less shocking than seeing it with my own eyes.

It has only been a short time since the problem of photoresist was solved and there is a clear guiding direction for thin film deposition.

"I've finished. Please give me some advice, experts and professors." After Li Mu finished talking about the information, he found that the atmosphere seemed a little strange.

Did he make a mistake?

That shouldn't be the reaction, right?

Huang Xinhua saw Li Mu's puzzled expression, coughed twice, and said quickly: "Well said, Liu Ze, Wang Yang, you two go up and continue talking."

"Ah?" The two people who were called were stunned. But seeing the look in Huang Xinhua's eyes, they had no choice but to go forward.

……

Liu Ze and Wang Yang's speeches were quite standard, neither good nor bad.

Some of the ideas are slightly innovative, but the gap is huge compared to Li Mu, who came up with a plan that directly reduced the difficulty of research by several levels.

The two of them could hardly continue speaking, feeling that what they said was completely useless.

But a group of experts and professors did not hesitate to applaud and praise them for their good speeches.

However, anyone with a discerning eye knows that this is just polite talk.

Li Mu didn't think there was anything wrong with it. As graduate students, Liu Ze and Wang Ya were of good level.

It was just because of his subsequent remarks that he seemed like a primary school monk.

After Liu Ze and Wang Yang finished speaking, Wang Ya and Xu Qing went up next.

Both of them are among the best in their respective majors, and are highly regarded by professors. Their thinking is quite quick.

The speech first summarized some theories that Li Mu had previously put forward, and then put forward his own views, which were praised by a number of experts and professors.

Liu Ze and Wang Yang regretted what they saw. Why didn’t they think of it just now?

……

After the five people finished speaking in turn, a group of experts and professors began their discussions.

This kind of discussion is certainly not a one-on-one argument. If you do that, it won't be long before the laboratory is no different from a vegetable market.

Huang Xinhua spoke first, and then the next expert spoke, either affirming or denying. After brainstorming, they deduced the most correct solution:
"I think we can use the vacuum environment to heat the silicon wafer, causing atoms or molecules to overflow from the surface of the silicon wafer, thereby growing a thin film on the substrate."

"You can also consider it from a chemical perspective, using gaseous substances to react on the surface of the silicon wafer and then form a stable solid film."

……

While everyone was speaking, Li Mu, like Wang Ya and a few others, sat quietly by the side, taking notes with a pen.

He remembered every detail, except for some words spoken in his hometown dialect by the professor when he was angry, which he didn't understand, but he basically remembered everything.

This is not about pretending to be a good student, but necessary preparation.

If a group of experts and professors get together to brainstorm, they might be able to come up with some ideas that match the information he has.

When the time comes, you can use it as the basis for your own theory.

Huang Xinhua would ask him from time to time: "Li Mu, what do you think?"

He is not Yuan Fang, what can he think?

"Professor Huang, I think what the expert just said was right..." Li Mu took his notes and started reciting, leaving Huang Xinhua helpless.

For questions that could not be answered in the notes, he extended them a little further based on the correct ideas of those professors:
"The gaseous particles are rapidly transported to the substrate in a linear motion with almost no collision. Some of the particles that reach the surface of the substrate are reflected, while others are adsorbed on the substrate..."

Anyway, my main approach is to speak in a toothpaste-squeezing manner. If you don't ask me, I won't say anything. If you ask me, I will only say a little.

……

The theoretical discussion lasted until the afternoon. The experts and professors all drank five or six cups of tea and their stomachs were growling.

However, the results are very encouraging, and the general direction has been discussed under Li Mu's intentional guidance.

The next step is to continuously improve and supplement it.

……

Three days passed in a flash.

After seeing the effect of the collective efforts of a group of experts and professors, Li Mu became more confident in developing large-scale integrated circuits.

He even had an absurd idea: "Maybe we can really develop large-scale integrated circuits."

The reason why it seems absurd is that it will take Emperor M six years to develop it, while Xia Kingdom originally planned to develop it twelve years later in history.

But if you think about it carefully, it seems not impossible that he is cheating.

……

In the laboratory.

By the end of the discussion, Huang Xinhua and other expert professors had found four experimental designs to complete the thin film deposition process and had initially worked out a plan.

With the collective wisdom and Li Mu's guidance, the advantages of these experts' deep knowledge reserves were revealed.

But four design directions may not sound like much, but each one may take half a year or even longer to experiment with. If they fail, all the efforts will be in vain.

Just as the meeting was coming to an end, Huang Xinhua suddenly asked, "Li Mu, what do you think?"

He was just asking out of the ordinary, not expecting any response.

Li Mu's heart was moved, and he felt that this was a good opportunity: "Professor Huang, I have a bold guess, I wonder if I should tell you?"

This answer made everyone look over and show surprise.

"Speak up. There is nothing that should be said or not said. If you have any ideas, just say them out!" Huang Xinhua said with a look of joy on his face.

Li Mudao: "I think among the four directions of thin film deposition, physical vapor deposition can be studied first, and then chemical vapor deposition."

"The latter has complex processes, high environmental requirements, high costs, and may emit harmful gases. The experiments are time-consuming and labor-intensive, so it is not the best choice."

"Do you have any ideas for designing experiments on meteorological deposition?" Huang Xinhua couldn't help but ask.

Li Mu hesitated for a moment, and under everyone's expectant gaze, he slowly said, "I think we can use the evaporation method and sputtering method."

"Evaporation and sputtering, what are these?" Huang Xinhua asked in surprise.

This answer also surprised everyone present.

Experimental design and experimental methods are completely different. The former still needs to be improved and supplemented, while the latter just needs to be done practically.

Li Mu said: "The evaporation method is to evaporate the plating material so that the vaporized plating material atoms, molecules or ions are deposited on the substrate to form the desired thin film."

"The sputtering method converts the coating material from a solid state to a gaseous or ionic state through heating, sublimation or sputtering."

"The atoms, molecules or ions of these coating materials will produce multiple reactions after collision, and then form a film with good uniformity. The composition of the film is also close to that of the target material."

After Li Mu finished speaking, the whole place fell silent, and everyone fell into deep thought and astonishment.

Huang Xinhua frowned and lowered his head in deep thought. After more than ten seconds, a look of realization appeared on his face. He could no longer suppress his smile and stood up and laughed:
"Genius idea!"

“Both new methods are theoretically completely feasible!”

Wang Shoujue became more and more excited as he spoke, and then he actually led the applause.

"Clap"

"Clap clap clap..."

The next moment, many experts in the laboratory who were awakened began to applaud enthusiastically, with expressions of amazement and appreciation on their faces.

"That's very well said. This idea saves us a lot of hard work!" Lu Qian walked over and patted Li Mu's shoulder happily.

Gu Tong also smiled and said, "How could he be a genius? It's impossible not to admire him!"

Facing everyone's praise and approving looks, Li Mu felt slightly embarrassed.

Everyone in their family knows their own business, and he just read out the answer.

After the applause stopped, Wang Shoujue began to make arrangements in a swift and decisive manner: "Next, we will split into two groups. One group will complete the experimental design according to the framework provided by Li Mu!"

(End of this chapter)