123. Chapter 122 Solutions for Three Major Components
Chapter 122 Solutions for Three Major Components
The core technology of EUV lithography is mainly composed of three major systems.
First is the EUV light source system, which is responsible for manufacturing the special light needed in the lithography process.
From the first generation of UV lithography to the fifth generation of EUV lithography, the wavelength of light has also been shortened from 436nm to 13.5nm. At present, all lithography machines are distinguished by the difference in light.
The main principle involved is the relationship between the wavelength and clarity of light in optics.
The simplest reason is that most people will feel dim when entering a room with yellow tungsten filament lamps.
Even if a few more bulbs are added, it still feels not as bright and clear as white LED lights.
This is because the wavelength of yellow light is much higher than that of white light. The wavelength of light is like a wave. The larger the wave, the greater the fluctuation of the water level hitting the seawall.
And this water level difference, in the field of optics, becomes an important factor affecting the clarity of the shadow edge.
Therefore, in order to achieve a chip process with a smaller process, you need a shorter wavelength and a light that is infinitely close to an absolute straight line.
In terms of EUV light source technology, according to the information that Kang Chi can find at present, Changchun Optical Institute in China should be close to a breakthrough, but Kang Chi is not sure at which stage.
He plans to try to understand the situation first. If conditions permit and the price is right, he may purchase directly from them. Even if the technology is slightly substandard, purchasing and improving it himself can save a lot of time and energy.
After all, there are more than 100,000 or 200,000 parts in a photolithography machine. If Datang Heavy Industry were to make all of them by itself, it would take a long time.
Purchasing from them would not waste their scientific research results, but also make use of their productivity, which is a win-win situation.
So this time, Kang Chi did not exclude himself from being a role in assembly, debugging and improvement.
Leaving China’s complete industrial chain unused, but instead rubbing each screw by himself, not only wastes such good domestic resources and foundation, but also shows that they are closed-door and eat alone.
And there is only one country in the world that can use the country’s industrial chain to complete the manufacturing of all the parts of a photolithography machine, and that is China.
It won’t work even if it’s replaced by Lao M.
They can’t find suppliers of all the parts of the photolithography machine in their own country, and they need global cooperation and coordination.
The huge cost of resource coordination will greatly increase the cost and time of the entire R&D project. This is also one of the main reasons why many Chinese products can be much cheaper than foreign manufacturers. In short, no matter what technology Chang Chunguang has not broken through the EUV light source, Kang Chi can try to borrow his R&D and manufacturing capabilities to quickly obtain a feasible light source system. Now that the light for lithography is available, the next step is to collect and project the light through an optical system onto the silicon wafer coated with photoresist. This optical system also accounts for the largest proportion of the cost of the entire lithography machine. In this part, Kang Chi plans to upgrade the lens production line of Daqin Optics, and then dismantle it to directly obtain most of the equipment parts needed for the manufacture of lithography machine lenses and reflectors. This will undoubtedly be much more efficient. Moreover, the upgraded production line is estimated to have no analysis project. Because most of the technology in it was obtained by Kang Chi when he analyzed the lithography machine, he has a lot of room for explanation. The only drawback is that he needs to confuse the audience in the next project and mix these separated components into the whole project without anyone noticing.
Well, It is to bully Yan Hui and his team because they have no knowledge of photolithography machines.
At that time, they will probably do whatever Kang Chi asks them to do, and there is not much room for thinking.
As for the last key system of the photolithography machine, it is the dual worktable system that carries the silicon wafer.
Its working principle is very simple, which is to continuously move the exposure part of the silicon wafer during photolithography, but the technical content is actually very high.
Because this working platform must be fast, accurate and ruthless.
Speed determines the performance of the photolithography machine.efficiency,
If the movement is too slow, the output of the lithography machine will not be good. This requires it to stop quickly and accurately after high-speed movement. The position error of the stop must be within 1nm.
If the deviation is a little larger, the entire wafer will be scrapped directly!
What is the concept?
It is probably like a car driving at high speed, suddenly braked, and then the position error of the stop cannot exceed 1 mm. However, this difficulty was solved by Hagong University in May this year.
The vacuum high-speed ultra-precision laser interferometer they developed has a displacement resolution of an astonishing 5pm, and the displacement error is controlled at 30pm!
You know, 1000pm is equal to 1nm!
The displacement error of 0.03nm is simply amazing!
Kang Chi almost doubted whether they were cheating like him…
To be honest, there are still many talented people in China.
If it weren’t for the system, Kang Chi himself would have a certain degree of confidence in mastering this technology, but he didn’t know how long it would take…
So Kang Chi kept reminding himself that although the system was indeed easy to use, he couldn’t stop learning and understanding.
This was not only to reduce his pain when analyzing the technology, so as not to die suddenly, but also to avoid being completely clueless and unable to do anything in the future if he didn’t have enough proficiency points and needed to develop his own technology.
In short, China has already mastered or is about to master most of the technical difficulties of EUV lithography machines, but it’s still unknown which ones can be replicated and put into mass production.
In order to get the answer, Kang Chi made a special call to Chief Lu.
When Kang Chi asked about the photolithography machine, Chief Lu immediately perked up and asked: “Are you going to develop photolithography machines?”
”Yes, I have this idea.”
”It’s good to develop photolithography machines! Well… But aren’t you busy mass-producing oil extractors? Where do you have so much time and energy to develop photolithography machines?”
”Take some time to play with it…”
”…”
Then, in Chief Lu’s silence, Kang Chi consulted about the EUV light source system of Changchun Institute of Light and the research on the large double worktable system of Hachium University of Technology.
”Well… They have indeed made some breakthroughs, but I can’t say what technical nodes they have reached and how long it will take to actually land… You can ask Academician Zhang, he knows more about this.”
So after Kang Chi hung up the phone, he called Zhang Dayuan again.
As a result, when Zhang Dayuan heard Kang Chi’s question, he directly said that it was not clear over the phone and asked him to go to Yanjing for a face-to-face meeting.
Kang Chi strongly suspected that the old man wanted to trick him into doing that steady-state micro-beam light source.
But in order to get the opportunity to shorten the development cycle of the lithography machine, Kang Chi had to follow his lead…
Anyway, no matter what he said, Kang Chi would not work with him.
Can he still detain Kang Chi? …
After more than two hours of flight, Kang Chi arrived at Yanjing International Airport before dark. Chen Hai’s colleagues came to pick him up. After the three of them met up, they went straight to the HEPS project department.
After layers of security checks and reporting, Kang Chi finally met Zhang Dayuan in the project department, wearing a safety helmet and dressed like a construction worker.
Seeing that this old man, who was nearly seventy years old, could still be energetic and stay on the front line and personally participate in the construction of the experimental project, Kang Chi couldn’t help but feel a little admiration.
“Academician Zhang, long time no see.”
As soon as they met, Kang Chi took the initiative to shake hands with him and praised: “You are still as good as ever.”
“Of course.” Zhang Dayuan proudly pulled Kang Chi, “Come on, let’s take you for a tour first.”
Faced with Zhang Dayuan’s enthusiasm, Kang Chi naturally couldn’t refuse.
Besides, he was actually quite curious about this place, so he followed Zhang Dayuan and took a simple tour in this high-energy synchrotron radiation source under construction.
The last chapter was almost 4, but fortunately it was released after modification.
It is estimated that if it is written too detailed and too close to the facts, it will be very easy to be 4…
To be safe, I may briefly mention the technology and nodes next, and then exaggerate a little, anyway, it’s awesome.
I hope you don’t have to be serious and find faults, just think of it as me bragging.
Well, in fact, I was just bragging, really!
(End of this chapter)