Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
For the next ten or so hours that followed, Liang Meng Nan and the others did a total of five adjustments to the parameters before finally getting five yield values that fully conformed to the situation in reality. This also meant that the “virtual factory” technology by Xing Hai Technologies was reliable, confirmed to be useful, and could be called a “god-like technology” that was in a league of its own.
Liang Meng Nan was so excited that his words became incoherent. “With this virtual factory, our future costs with regards to the adjustments, improvements, and optimizations of the chip manufacturing process would be a tenth of what we spend in the past. The time that we spend on process modifications will also be a tenth of what was wasted in the past. Trial and error costs are greatly reduced!”
“The production yield of the 14-nanometer chips had stopped increasing since two years ago. We can’t be content with a 95% production yield. The OEM factories of Mossy Electric Corporation and Samsin have a yield of 98% and above for their 14-nanometer chips. It i only a difference of 3% to 4%, but it means that they could get more profits of a similar percentage. Or they could price their products more competitively than us by few percentage points, such that we become uncompetitive in terms of pricing. In addition, not only do the OEM factories of Mossy Electric and Samsin have a higher chip yield, they also have a higher production efficiency. Their production lines can produce 300,000 chips in a day, whereas we can only produce a maximum of 250,000. Our production efficiency is worse than theirs.”
He continued, “The primary reason for their lead in the market is because they have money. They can afford trial and error as much as they want and make all the necessary adjustments and improvements to the manufacturing processes of the chips to raise their production efficiency. They have huge amounts of capital to invest in the development of the next generation of chip-making processes. Under the Matthew Effect, their leading advantage continues to gallop further ahead. But, Zhong Xin cannot do that. We have no money and no manpower. We need to pour our profits back into the business to keep it functioning. The 14-nanometer production line is the greatest source of our company’s profits. We can’t stop for even one moment! Much less stopping production to carry out improvements to the production workflow. Therefore, our yield has been stuck at 95%. The virtual factory created by Xing Hai Technologies is a perfect solution for the difficult circumstances we have found ourselves in! We can carry out the tests for process improvements, adjust parameters, add new processes, or reduce cumbersome ones. Through the computer’s simulation, we can explore ways to achieve rapid production! The simulation speed of the supercomputer is very fast. The rewards that we get from fumbling about in reality is outmatched by what this computer can achieve in three days. The efficiency of our exploration to find better processes will be greatly increased! The production yield and efficiency of our chips will certainly double!”
The Chief Development Inspector, Yang Ming, expounded on the significance of the virtual factory with great excitement. He spoke loudly, “With the virtual factory, the technological distance between Zhong Xin International and the global top OEM chip factories would narrow at ten times the current speed. We can definitely catch up to them within two years!”
“That’s right, we’ll catch up to them.” Zhang Wei Jin and others nodded in agreement. Yang Ming’s words were not exaggerated at all. Supposing that Zhong Xin International was behind Mossy Electric Corporation and Samjin by 20 years, if they could catch up to them at 10 times the current speed, it was entirely possible that they could reach their level within two years. The costs needed to catch up to the leading technological standard was only a tenth of what they would have to spend in the past. The virtual factory was this terrifying!
Speaking of chip manufacturing processes, were the working processes really that incredible? Was a good chip not easily created as long as one had a good photolithography machine? This thinking was especially erroneous! The photolithography machine was only one important process in chip manufacturing; it was not everything in chip manufacturing. All 2,000-plus processes formed the core technologies of chip manufacturing.
This required the OEM factory to have the necessary powerful system integration and a precisely coordinated production support capability. The simulation process that consisted of thousands of processes must be even harder to develop than the core technologies. One should not look down on the OEM industry in chip manufacturing simply because they did not create their own original product. Without the OEM chip factories, none of the core equipment suppliers such as the photolithography machines manufacturer, the etching machine factory, or the ion implanter factory, would be able to create the chips. The manufacturing processes in the OEM chips factories consisted of the most important and essential technologies.
In addition, other countries had lifted the embargoes on Z country a few years ago with regards to the chip manufacturing field and the core equipment needed. Hence, even though the supply order was somewhat backward, as long as they had the money, the chip manufacturing businesses in Z country could easily purchase the latest core equipment, including the photolithography machine. Other countries had never really enforced the embargo on Z country. There were two reasons for that. Firstly, there were a few research organizations from Z country that had conquered many key technologies in the field of lithography. If they had enforced the embargo, they would be cutting their own nose to spite their face, as Z country’s enterprise would achieve breakthroughs again in a few years. The other reason was that having the most advanced photolithographic machine did not mean that one had fully mastered the chip manufacturing technologies.
For example, the photolithography machine used by all the current leading giants in the global chip industry was usually the 193-nanometer immersion lithography machine manufactured by the Asmal Corporation from Holland. The present 65-nanometer, 45-nanometer, 32-nanometer, and the 16- and 14-nanometer chips were all produced using the 193-nanometer immersion lithography machine. How did a lithography machine with a huge wavelength produce a chip that came from even smaller manufacturing processes? This was the power exhibited by advanced processing technology.
The extreme ultraviolet lithography machine (EUV) was necessary for the production of the 10- and 7-nanometer chips that came from smaller manufacturing processes. The EUV was necessary to ensure that the chip had stable performance and a higher yield rate. Z country did not face an embargo from overseas with regards to the EUV. Zhong Xin International had ordered an EUV two years ago for 12 million! They received the machine last year and used it to research more advanced processes in chip manufacturing. However, they had not achieved any substantial breakthroughs up to this point.
With the R&D bonus from Xing Hai Technologies in the form of the virtual factory, they would advance into the territories of the 10-nanometer, the 7-nanometers, and even the smaller 5-nanometer, after raising the production yield and efficiency of the 14-nanometer chip. Zhang Wei Jin and others predicted that they could definitely achieve a great breakthrough within a short time!
Yang Ming was suddenly hit with a wild idea. “President Chen, Brother Liang, why don’t we skip over the 10-nanometer and jump straight into the 7-nanometer? There will be many difficulties in the beginning, but with this fantastical device, we have countless opportunities for trial and error. Our trial and error costs are extremely low! We’ll skip over one generation go straight into 7-nanometer chip development. This will allow us to achieve the same leading standard as Mossy Electric and Samjin. We will be a worldwide sensation once we have achieved our breakthrough!”
Interest sparkled in the eyes of the audience.
“I think… I think it’s worth a shot!”
“We are almost finished with getting a feel for the 10-nanometer chip. The yield rate is terrible but we have at least produced a few usable chips that meet the standards. We will use that as our technological foundation and go straight into 7-nanometer chip development. It should be a relatively smooth process.”
“It’s bold, but it’s worth a shot. We can aim for a development that skips the intermediate stages! If our 7-nanometer chip is successfully developed, not only will the world be shocked, the shareholders’ confidence will be boosted too. Our share prices will go through the roof!”
Zhang Wei Jin was so excited that his face turned red. It was ok even if their attempt failed, at most they would lose some time and money for the development process. In comparison with the tremendous reward that they could reap, it was worth the risk! One could imagine how great the boost of confidence that Zhang Wei Jin and his employees received from the power of the “Fantastical Device for Development,” the virtual factory.