Chapter 686: Charge to the world’s top echelon!
Wang Xing didn’t know whether Lu Yiming was telling the truth or not, but it didn’t really matter. As long as Lu Yiming could really invest in building this science and technology museum, that would be better than anything else.
"Xiao Bao, check if Ding Gao, Mu Guang, and Zhou Kun are at work today. If they are, call them over."
"OK."
Bao Zijun nodded slightly and left.
After more than ten minutes, he came in with three people.
Ding Gao is an expert in inertial technology and precision instruments. He has long been engaged in the research and development of gyroscopes, accelerometers, inertial platform systems, etc. for guided weapons.
Mu Guang is engaged in the research of optics and applied optics, image science, optical design and optical information processing technology. In 1983, he successfully developed the technology of refracting color images using black and white film.
Zhou Kun is an expert in laser and optoelectronics technology, president of the National Optical Society, and is engaged in research on lasers and optoelectronics.
After the introduction, Lu Yiming realized that these were top bosses in their professional fields, and he immediately became extremely polite.
"Hello, teachers."
These three people are all at the academician level. If Wang Hongsheng hadn't brought Lu Yiming here, Lu Yiming would have basically had no chance to come into contact with them.
Facing Lu Yiming, the richest man in Asia, the three were very polite. After all, they were doing research and needed money from bigwigs. It would be difficult to do experiments just relying on government funding.
After some discussion, Lu Yiming said, "Everyone, I plan to establish the Xiaguo Optical Engineering Society. I would like to invite the three of you and Mr. Wang to serve as consultants for this engineering society. What do you think?"
In developed countries, it is very common to establish various societies and trade unions, which exist in almost every industry. Lu Yiming also intends to follow suit.
Once a society is established, it is equivalent to having an organization, resources and talents can be integrated and circulated, and everyone can face difficulties in a unified manner.
However, Ding Gao and the others did not seem to be interested in Lu Yiming's proposal.
"I'm afraid we don't have time for this. We're too busy at work."
"Yes, I have several research projects on hand right now, and I don't have the energy to participate in other things."
For people at their level, they have national tasks to undertake, so how can they have the time to care about any society?
This is also the reason why there are so few professional organizations like this in Xiaguo.
Those who are truly capable are too busy, and this kind of society cannot be established without the leadership of industry leaders.
Facing the three people's refusal, Lu Yiming explained: "Three, you misunderstood. This society will definitely not take up your time. You don't need to clock in for work, you just put your name on it. I will send a professional team to manage the society. Every month's salary will be directly deposited into your bank account. There will be absolutely no trouble."
After hearing what Lu Yiming said, the three of them looked at Lu Yiming with strange eyes.
There are only three words in that look.
"What do you want?"
Wang Xing couldn't help but ask directly: "Why did you set up this society?"
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "The purpose of establishing the Optical Engineering Society is to promote the development of our country's optical industry. Although I am an outsider, I also want to contribute to our country's optical research."
Seeing Lu Yiming's sincerity, Wang Xing and the other three academicians no longer refused and had to accept the invitation.
It's pretty good to be a white-collar worker and get a salary without having to do anything every month.
But for Lu Yiming, spending this money is not a loss at all.
After all, if you encounter any difficulties in developing lithography machines, you can shamelessly ask a few big guys for "consultants". You can't just ignore my problems, right?
For Lu Yiming, scientific research that can be solved by spending money is just a small matter.
If you can’t find someone who can solve the problem at the critical moment, that would be a real big trouble.
A few days later, the news that Lu Yiming had funded the construction of an optical science and technology museum at the Xiake Institute soon became known.
Outsiders don't know the truth. They just think that Lu Yiming became arrogant after becoming the richest man in Asia. He has so much money that he doesn't know how to spend it, so he built a science and technology museum.
In fact, the reason why Lu Yiming wanted to fulfill Wang Xing's wish to build a science and technology museum was not only to repay Wang Xing, but also to pay a high price for a good thing.
Or to put it more directly, Lu Yiming regarded this science and technology museum as a stepping stone and never thought about whether it would make money or not.
Just like those real estate companies, they are all keen on setting up football teams. Could it be that these wealthy capitalists really love football so much?
Stop being so funny. You spend hundreds of millions every year to support a bunch of losers. Wouldn't it be better to use the money to support young models?
It's just that some people like it, so it's profitable to cater to their tastes.
Lu Yiming is doing the same thing now. Compared to raising a football team, Lu Yiming is not actually opposed to building a science and technology museum. After all, this is also a way to promote science.
After staying in Beijing for half a month, Lu Yiming was either spending money or on his way to spend money.
He even took time out to fly to Jilin Province to visit the Changqing Institute of Optics, Precision Mechanics and Physics. Wang Xing was the first director of the Changqing Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics. It was here, under his leadership, that Xiaguo's optical industry laid a solid foundation.
Of course, the visit is not the main purpose. This time, Lu Yiming came here with the intention of poaching people.
Although Wang Xing is no longer the director here, he is the founder after all.
Everyone in the Changqing Institute of Optics and Mechanics is a disciple of Wang Xing.
So Lu Yiming was not polite at all and directly gave Lin Benjian a list and asked him to recruit people.
Lin Benjian looked at the long list in his hand and felt a little embarrassed: "Boss Lu, are all these people going to be recruited?"
“Dig as much as you can.”
“That’s not a good idea.”
"Hmph, what's wrong with that? I spent so much money, is it really to do good things? I have to make my money back, right? Anyway, feel free to poach people. Just put out the salary and so on. I'll see who dares to complain. Anyway, as long as we are not embarrassed, others will be embarrassed."
Lu Yiming said it in a firm tone. After all, he had paid the toll and he couldn't return empty-handed.
The result of this was that as soon as Lu Yiming returned to Beijing from the Changqing Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, the director of the Changqing Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Jia Ping, called Wang Xing to complain.
"Wang Suo, this Dawn Breaking Optics is too much. You have to help me make the decision."
This shout scared Wang Xing directly. He thought that Lu Yiming and the others had done something evil behind his back, so he asked quickly, "What's wrong?"
Jia Ping complained, "Director Wang, did you know that Dawn Optics is trying to poach people from me like crazy? When I got to work today, there were more than a dozen resignation letters in my office. I was so annoyed!"
When Wang Xing heard that he was going to poach people, he smiled and said, "Lu Yiming is doing something that benefits the country and the people. Just let him poach as many people as he wants. It won't cost you much."
Jia Ping complained, "Old Director, you don't know that Lu Yiming is not just poaching a few people. According to his poaching method, there are almost no people left in our Institute of Optics and Mechanics. We can't completely wipe out the roots here, right? Will the Institute of Optics and Mechanics be open in the future?"
After some understanding, Wang Xing was speechless to find out how aggressive Lu Yiming was in poaching people. He directly offered salaries ten or even twenty times higher than the actual salary. As long as they nodded, he would arrange for them to settle down in Zhonghai and also give them a house - at least a five-bedroom apartment with a minimum area of 200 square meters.
If we use these conditions to test scientific researchers, which scientific researcher can withstand this test?
Therefore, all the talents of the Institute of Optics and Electronics, from the team-leading tutors to ordinary "research dogs", were basically lured to Dawn Optics by Lu Yiming and Lin Benjian.
You know, the most important asset of a research institute is not the instruments and equipment, but the people who can use them.
Instruments and equipment can always be bought with money, but talent cannot be bought with money.
Especially the researchers in the Institute of Optics and Electronics, who among them is not a genius with great talent in physics and mathematics?
Once those experienced mentors are poached, the Institute of Optics and Electronics will lose its ability to generate revenue and will have no successors.
Back then, when the Changqing Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics was first established, it was just an instrument museum, and was later renamed the Institute of Optical Precision Instruments.
The current director is a "young comrade" back then. He worked with Wang Xing for half his life to build the Changqing Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics from scratch, leading to its current glory.
It is not only the leading optical research institution in China, but also an unknown institution in the world.
At least occasionally, you can receive invitations to attend international optical academic conferences.
But now Lu Yiming actually set his sights on the Institute of Optics and Electronics, wielding a hoe and frantically digging up the institute's foundations, which made the director a little unbearable.
Upon learning of this situation, Wang Xing could no longer sit still and immediately called Lu Yiming over.
"I just received a call from Director Jia of the Changqing Institute of Optics and Mechanics. You are using chicken feathers as a token of authority. Are you planning to move the Institute of Optics and Mechanics to Zhonghai?"
When Lu Yiming heard about this, he was not at all nervous and said teasingly: "I would like to, too. How about..."
Before Lu Yiming could finish, Wang Xing interrupted him and said, "You really dare to think so!"
Wang Xing naturally couldn't agree to such a thing. After all, many research projects of the Institute of Optics and Electronics were also very important.
If Lu Yiming hadn't wanted to develop the lithography machine, Wang Xing would have turned against him long ago.
You have to know that his words can be heard by the top leaders, and it is not easy for private enterprises to poach people from a state-owned scientific research institution like the Changqing Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics.
Just transferring files can get you stuck.
To put it bluntly, it was Wang Xing who gave the green light to Lu Yiming and Poxiao Optics.
It was just that Wang Xing underestimated Lu Yiming's shamelessness, which led to his great loss.
Facing the angry Wang Xing, Lu Yiming was still cheerful and said with a look of regret: "Okay, okay, that's it, I won't dig anymore, is that okay?"
Although he cursed loudly, Wang Xing was still very happy that Lu Yiming was willing to invest money in scientific research, and was willing to give him a back door.
So after , he changed the subject and asked, "Are you sure about developing the fourth-generation lithography machine?"
The first three generations of lithography machines can be said to be inherited from each other and have not changed in essence, just like the three major parts of the car, the engine, gearbox, and chassis, have not changed in more than a hundred years since the birth of the car.
However, the fourth-generation lithography machine that Lu Yiming was going to make almost completely overturned the technical routes of the previous three generations, just like the disruptive change of new energy vehicles replacing fuel vehicles.
Therefore, Wang Xing is still very concerned about whether he can succeed.
Seeing that they were talking about serious matters, Lu Yiming stopped smiling and became serious: "I do have a chance, although it's not much, but I won't give up unless I give it a try."
In the original history, in the Netherlands, a country full of tulips, the reason why ASML was able to defeat Nikon, the former king of lithography machines, was actually due to Lin Benjian and immersion lithography technology.
This time, Lin Benjian has been intercepted by Lu Yiming. ASML's development speed will definitely be slowed down, but it is hard to say what will happen next.
In short, this is an opportunity. If Xiaguo wants to make a comeback in its lithography technology, it must seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Lu Yiming talked to Wang Xing about the development history of lithography machines.
After all, he is an expert in the field of optics. Although he has retired, Wang Xing still often takes time to learn about the latest technological frontiers. And as a person who personally experienced that era in the past, Wang Xing also has a deeper understanding of the evolution of lithography machines.
Wang Xing said to Lu Yiming: "The first and second generation lithography machines basically use contact proximity exposure, using 436-nanometer g-line and 365-nanometer i-line light sources. Contact lithography machines are susceptible to contamination because the mask is in direct contact with the photoresist, while proximity lithography machines have low imaging accuracy due to the influence of the air cushion."
"I remember that was the early 1960s. Xiaguo was so poor at the time that many places were even suffering from famine. People couldn't even get enough food. Otherwise, if we wanted to catch up, it would be easy to do so."
Lu Yiming nodded, also feeling a little sorry: "Yes, in the field of scientific research, it is really difficult to move forward without money. One step slow means all the steps are slow. As a result, we can only spend ten or even a hundred times the price to make up for the gap. Even when we encounter some patent barriers that are difficult to bypass, we can only sigh in vain. Scientific research is too difficult."
"But no matter how difficult it is, we have to do it, because if we don't do it today, the cost will only be higher in the future."
Wang Xing fully agreed with Lu Yiming's words, and he admired his determination and ambition very much.
"The third generation is a scanning projection lithography machine, which uses optical lenses to gather diffracted light to improve imaging quality. The exposure method is innovated into optical projection lithography, which realizes exposure by scanning. The light source is also improved to 248-nanometer KrF laser, achieving leapfrog development and pushing the minimum process to 180-130 nanometers. At this stage, it is more difficult to catch up."
Lu Yiming replied: "In fact, the more difficult one is the fourth generation, the step-and-scan projection lithography machine, which is the most representative lithography machine product. It was first launched by ASML in 1986. It uses a 193-nanometer ArF laser light source to achieve the synchronous movement of the mask and silicon wafer during the lithography process, and uses a reduced projection lens with a reduction ratio of 5:1, which effectively improves the use efficiency and exposure accuracy of the mask, and takes the chip process and production efficiency to a higher level."
"Today, the industry generally believes that 193nm lithography cannot be extended to the 65nm technology node, and 157nm will become the mainstream technology. However, 157nm lithography technology has encountered a huge challenge from the lithography machine lens. At present, many researchers in many major European and American countries are hesitant in the face of 157nm immersion lithography, but we at Poxiao Optics have seen hope."
Hearing that Dawn Optics had seen hope of breaking through 157 nanometers, Wang Xing immediately became excited and asked quickly, "What hope? Tell me quickly."
He was just worried about whether Lu Yiming would be successful in the end despite all the fanfare.
You know, there are many companies in the world that research lithography machines, and they are all high-tech companies in developed countries in Europe and the United States. Apart from having a lot of money, Lu Yiming has no advantages at all.
But technology is not something that can be solved simply by throwing money at it. If throwing money at it could solve all problems, then there would be no problems in the world.
But Lu Yiming brought him a surprise, saying that there was hope for the research, which made Wang Xing very excited.
However, Wang Xing immediately reacted and said awkwardly, "I'm sorry, I was too excited. If it involves your company's business secrets, then I won't ask."
Although he was very curious, Wang Xing knew his limits and would never take advantage of his seniority to cause trouble.
However, Lu Yiming was very frank and said, "What are you talking about, Mr. Wang? What commercial secrets are there? Even if it is a commercial secret, I will not hide it from you. If I can't even trust an old scientist like you, is there anyone else in this world who is trustworthy?"
Anyway, Lin Benjian is going to develop immersion lithography technology. Even if Lu Yiming doesn't say it now, Wang Xing will know about it through Professor Bao Zijun, his disciple. It's only a matter of time.
Therefore, there was no need for Lu Yiming to keep it secret from Wang Xing. On the contrary, if he could tell Wang Xing the truth, he might be able to get more support from Wang Xing.
Thinking of this, Lu Yiming said truthfully: "Lin Benjian, who came with me, was originally a senior director of TSM Tai Jue. He had previously proposed the concept of 193-nanometer immersion lithography. According to his theory, the equivalent wavelength of 193-nanometer light waves in water is shortened to 134 nanometers. Once the research and development is successful, we can make the accuracy of the lithography machine directly exceed the limit of 157 nanometers. We can even continue research on this basis and push the chip processing accuracy to below 100 nanometers! It is precisely because of his plan that I decided to invest in him."
Wang Xing only heard that Lu Yiming was going to use a completely different method to study the lithography machine, but he didn't know the specific situation. Now that Lu Yiming said it directly, he was shocked, but more than that, he was delighted.
"In other words, if this plan works, Xiaguo will be able to overtake others in the field of lithography machines and enter the first echelon in the world?"
Lu Yiming said: "Yes, I have applied for a patent for this plan. As long as we can make it, we will be the best in the world!"
