novelraw #463 - Planning for the future
#463 - Planning for the future
The sale of a few warships couldn't be settled immediately, nor could Li Yunlong and Karias finalize it with a brief discussion.
Li Yunlong's idea was just an intention. After Karias took it back, the Athens Navy would first discuss it internally, form a unified opinion, and then report it to higher levels for decision-making. After that would be round after round of formal business negotiations, which could take months or even years!
It was entirely possible that by the time the deal was finalized, Dongda's new generation of destroyers would already be rolling off the production line in large quantities.
However, without a doubt, the idea of possessing the strongest Mediterranean fleet struck a chord in the hearts of Athenian naval officers like Karias.
Their budget dictated that they couldn't have a large naval force, but the duties of the Athens Navy, with its vast territorial waters, required them to have a very capable navy. Otherwise, their maritime interests couldn't be guaranteed.
In this regard, the Athens Navy had no choice. They had to become stronger, or they wouldn't be able to speak firmly on the sea.
Li Yunlong didn't have too many thoughts on this. After Wang Peng compiled and reported Li Yunlong's negotiations with Karias, the headquarters' response was to wait and see. They didn't need to worry about the follow-up, as another team would naturally take over the subsequent negotiations.
The higher-ups neither opposed nor agreed with Li Yunlong's proposal.
Anyway, Li Yunlong's word didn't count. The suggestion he gave was just a possible suggestion.
The fleet stayed here for three days, and Li Yunlong and Wang Peng also took the opportunity to visit the Athens Navy.
Apart from the Macedonian King, which was somewhat interesting like the Hai Dao, the rest of the ships were really not worth seeing. The three World War II heirloom battleships, in the eyes of Li Yunlong and others today, only had the advantage of being large.
In terms of combat power, they couldn't be compared with the Luhai-class destroyers at all. In the eyes of an amateur like Li Yunlong, a battleship with only naval guns and a modified maritime warning radar would probably be destroyed before it even saw the Luhai-class destroyer!
However, Li Yunlong still understood the etiquette of commercial mutual praise. He spoke very highly of the Athens Navy, and since it didn't cost a penny, Li Yunlong could praise them to the skies.
After the social engagements, the fleet continued its voyage.
The equipment required for the first-generation NMOS process mainly includes oxidation furnaces, deposition equipment, lithography machines, etching equipment, ion implanters, cleaning machines, chemical polishing equipment, etc. The yield rate of these early equipment in the wafer manufacturing process is still not good, which leads to the high cost of producing the 8080. More importantly, the mainstream process for future CPU manufacturing is the CMOS process. Integrated circuits produced using the CMOS process have many advantages such as low power consumption, high speed, strong anti-interference ability, and high integration. Practice has proven that only the CMOS process can become the mainstream process technology for large-scale integrated circuits in the future.
Therefore, after Ren Zhong returned to the main world, he almost immersed himself in the transportation of technical data related to the CMOS process and the manufacturing design of related equipment involved in CMOS process oxidation, deposition, lithography, etching, and ion implantation/diffusion.
This was a big task, and the amount of material involved in a set of lithography equipment was too much.
Even for Dongda in the main world, it was a huge project.
The first-generation NMOS process was relatively simplified, after all, the process was still too crude compared to the upcoming 286/386/486. A typical 286 microprocessor integrates 130,000 transistors, a typical 386 microprocessor integrates 275,000 transistors, and a 486 microprocessor integrates 1.2 million transistors, but the 8080 only has 6,000 transistors!
This was an order of magnitude increase.
Therefore, there was a technological hurdle to overcome from the 8080 microprocessor to the 286 microprocessor! From the perspective of process precision, the manufacturing process required for the 8080 microprocessor was 6 microns, while the manufacturing process for the 486 microprocessor had to reach 1 micron!
This was a huge test for Ren Zhong, and the amount of data he needed to transport was in the thousands, relying on himself was completely unrealistic.
However, the high cost of the chip manufacturing production line meant that even though Ren Zhong had acquired tens of billions of assets in the main world by fiddling with some celebrity calligraphy and paintings and high-end jade from the Bright Sword world, this amount of money was nothing for the chip supply production line. Although it was enough to buy some outdated production lines, the equipment currently being purchased was still far beyond what individuals could afford. After all, it was very difficult to buy real old equipment now.
The prototype of the step-and-repeat aligner currently supporting 8080 production was developed by the 45th Institute of the Ministry of Machinery and Electronics of Dongda in 1985 in the main world. Ren Zhong obtained the production data through computer history archaeology. This was Dongda's first step-and-repeat projection aligner, using a 436-nanometer G-line light source, basically reaching a 5-micron processing level.
Using a 436-nanometer G-line light source can evolve to about 1 micron at most. This is the direction that the Optical Research Center is working hard to research and iterate. The next node is 3 microns, which is basically prepared for the 286-level CPU, and the 1 micron after that is mainly prepared for the 386-level and 486-level. According to Ren Zhong's plan, this is the goal of the fourth five-year plan and the fifth five-year plan. When the 1970s of Bright Sword design arrive, let the people of the Bright Sword world use 486 computers that can be connected to the Internet.
To further develop, a generational shift and the introduction of new technologies are necessary. This means adopting second-generation i-line stepper lithography machines, using a 365nm i-line light source (mercury lamp wavelength 365nm). An i-line lithography machine can achieve a line width of 0.25 microns, with a minimum of 0.15 microns. This level of lithography technology is basically sufficient for Pentium 3-level microprocessors. This is the focus of the Sixth and Eighth Five-Year Plans, allowing the Bright Sword world to enter the early stages of the information age in the 1980s, beginning the development of the first-generation internet.
It's not that Ren Zhong doesn't want to achieve leapfrog development, but the conditions simply don't allow it.
These early lithography machines are impossible to buy, let alone transport to the Bright Sword world. Therefore, everything can only develop step by step from the foundation. However, in terms of technological development, Ren Zhong will guide them onto a path destined for success.
He will tell them the right path to take, the key technologies involved, and the general direction of research for new materials, which can accelerate the speed of technological iteration in the Bright Sword world.
But he cannot replace their efforts.
After all, these things, for Ren Zhong, also touch upon areas of absolute ignorance!
However, the benefits of starting from scratch will eventually become apparent. The engineering experience gained through early research will be very helpful in subsequent development. Theoretically, if the G-line production process is completed, in-depth iteration, optimization, and exploration of this process will lead to a complete set of research experience, giving them a huge advantage in researching the I-line production process. After all, most things are common, but further exploration is needed in terms of precision.
Now that the G-line production process equipment has been successfully developed, due to the lack of experience in early production of wafer-based integrated circuits, the success rate of etching is not high, resulting in very high costs. However, with the continuous accumulation of production experience, the production yield rate has begun to climb, now reaching about 75%. This highlights the advantages of large-scale production.
If the current G-line production lines are running at full capacity, the monthly production capacity can reach the level of hundreds of thousands. According to current sales forecasts, this production capacity should be sufficient.
However, Ren Zhong requires that the iteration and optimization of the production line not be stopped. Because in the next-generation planned 8088 microprocessor design, the number of transistors integrated into a single CPU has reached 29,000! This is almost five times more than the previous generation! According to the production experience of the main world, this requires a 3-micron production process to meet the need to concentrate so many transistors onto a single wafer. Therefore, the G-line production line must be further iterated and optimized to the 3-micron level to produce such a microprocessor.
In this way, by following the technological path of CPU development in the main world, Ren Zhong can keep Dongda's computer development at a leading level until he can no longer obtain much technical information about DUV lithography machines.
DUV lithography machines are highly confidential technology in the main world. In this area, Ren Zhong has basically nothing new to bring to the Bright Sword world except for ideas.
However, Ren Zhong doesn't care too much about these things. If they can achieve 0.15 microns, then his mission in the Bright Sword world can basically be completed.
This is at least thirty years ahead. If the people behind can't keep up, then he really can't be blamed for not trying hard enough.
In fact, the research and development environment now provided to the Bright Sword world is almost the best that two worlds combined can offer!
Although there are not many scientists in the Bright Sword world who are getting rich now, after all, the technical experts and management team only have a total of 20% of the company's shares.
Compared with the entrepreneurial ventures of technical experts in the main world, these shares are shared by many key personnel, and their ability to become super-rich is relatively poor.
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However, in Ren Zhong's view, now is not the time to artificially create super-rich people. Even if it were him, with countless core patents in his hands, if he relied on these to invest and receive dividends, Ren Zhong would have been the undisputed richest man in the Bright Sword world long ago.
But Ren Zhong didn't do this. The income from these patents is basically linked to the major research centers that produced the results. These serve as long-term sources of funding for future research and development expenses.
Only in this way can Ren Zhong continue to maintain the Dawn Research Institute with hundreds of thousands of people, even without receiving government funding!
It can be said that the Dawn Research Institute has never asked anyone for funding. This kind of environment is undoubtedly very friendly to scientists. They don't need to write countless proposals and beg everywhere to apply for funding.
Moreover, in terms of personal treatment, these scientists also receive the best treatment in the country. Housing and family arrangements are also given priority. It's just that this funding is all fed back by the Dawn Research Institute through a virtuous cycle of earned fees. A large number of technical staff apartments have been built around the research institute through allocated land.
Researchers who have started families have long lived in modern two-bedroom and one-living-room or three-bedroom and one-living-room standard housing.
Even students who have just graduated and entered the research institute have an independent one-bedroom and one-living-room apartment to ensure a good living environment.
And the project leaders and core technical backbones of important projects have the ability to purchase small cars such as Golfs and Jettas after receiving their dividends!
It should be known that the vast majority of officials above the county level do not have the ability to purchase small cars.
This is the best era for scientists!
Moreover, in society, the technical personnel of the Dawn Research Institute also have a unique position. Whether it's matchmaking or in front of relatives and friends, this is the best job right now!
There is no other.
So, Ren Zhong has laid a solid foundation. Next, they can catch up with or directly lead the world by continuing to move forward according to the technical route he provided.
The future world will sooner or later be an information-based world. Ren Zhong's dedication of most of his energy to this is somewhat incredible to some people, but there are not many people who can force Ren Zhong to do anything now. Even if Ren Zhong doesn't do anything, he is now a unique scientific giant in the Bright Sword world.
Investing huge amounts of energy to help Dongda take the lead in information technology is not just an economic issue.
In Ren Zhong's eyes, once a rapid breakthrough in computer technology is achieved, the impact on other aspects will be too great.
The popularization and performance improvement of computers will have a leapfrog development impact on many aspects. For example, in accounting, with computers doing the accounting, the previously very cumbersome and time-consuming steps in statistics and reporting can now be quickly completed by computers.
For applications that require a large amount of data to be calculated, there is nothing more proficient than a computer.
This kind of improvement in the efficiency level of finance is simply a revolutionary change!
No matter how capable an accountant is, they cannot perform calculations as quickly and accurately as a computer!