Great Country Academician

After hanging up the phone, Xu Chuan unfolded the rolled-up experimental data report in his hand.

The R\u0026D evaluation of carbon-based chips as an S-level project is fully in line with the standards.

In other words, the highest evaluation of the project on the Xinghai Research Institute is only S-level. If there is SS-level or SSS-level above, it is also qualified.

Just like a classmate scored 100 points on the test because the full score of the test paper is only 100 points, the carbon-based chip is rated S-level for the Xinghai Research Institute because the highest score is only S-level.

This should be the first S-level project on the Materials Research Institute. Before this, the Materials Research Institute did not have an S-level project, and the highest level was A-level.

Flipping through the experimental data report in his hand, Xu Chuan fell into deep thought.

Although his research in the field of materials is still outstanding, he is a complete layman in the field of chips.

Because there are too many fields involved.

Materials, design, manufacturing, packaging and testing, equipment. CPU, GPU, FPGA, storage chip, fingerprint recognition chip, camera CIS chip, RF chip. All links and types can be said to be not a country can handle.

The research, development, design and manufacturing of silicon-based chips are not promoted by the United States alone. It is the gathering of the power of almost the entire Western camp that has perfected it.

For example, the distributed Bragg reflector from the Germanic country, the high-purity single crystal silicon from the Sakura country, or the extreme ultraviolet light system from the United States.

It is no exaggeration to say that the production process of a small chip involves a nearly complete industrialization system.

And most of the parts are the top ones.

So no matter how strong the research and development capabilities of the Xinghai Research Institute are, there is no complete industrial chain that can produce a chip alone.

Therefore, in the research and development and subsequent development of carbon-based chips, it is necessary to find partners.

In terms of chip research, there are actually only a handful of qualified and capable domestic companies. If you want to choose for subsequent cooperative research and development, who should you look for?

Domestic chip manufacturers passed through his mind one after another, and it didn't take long for Xu Chuan to make a decision.

After all, there are not many choices for suitable manufacturers.

Of course, before looking for a cooperative manufacturer, he needs to solve the preparation problems of carbon-based chips, at least some of the core manufacturing problems, such as the complete batch sorting of carbon nanotube crystals, such as the stable transformation of carbon semiconductors, etc.

Only by solving these problems can there be enough hope to make a real carbon-based chip.

The cause of the formation of the Yaochi crater on the back of the moon is under investigation and exploration.

But before that, they are not without things to do.

On the one hand, at the Information Research Institute, the supercomputing center has freed up enough computing resources and is analyzing the "Yaochi Crystal" through various experimental data.

For the current materials community, the current mainstream new material research and development method is still through the researchers' "scientific intuition", the "experimental experience" accumulated in the past, and a large number of repeated "trial and error" experiments, using limited conditions to find a feasible method.

However, on his side, this traditional solution can first be simulated and calculated through a targeted chemical material calculation model, saving a lot of experimental workload through the supercomputing center.

Of course, although mathematical methods can reduce the workload of experiments, experiments are still indispensable.

After all, no matter how powerful the theory is, it must be verified through experiments.

Meanwhile, the supercomputing center of the Information Research Institute has been conducting computational analysis on the special material Yaochi Crystal for two days.

If nothing unexpected happens, the last batch of analysis will be almost completed today.

On the other hand, in the research on Yaochi Crystal, Xu Chuan has already started the first batch of material replication experiments.

In the core laboratory of the Materials Research Institute, Xu Chuan, who is fully armed with a white coat, gloves and goggles, is sending the experimental utensils in his hand into the CVD tube furnace.

Yaochi Crystal is the moon rock collected from the impact wall of the "Yaochi Crater" on the back of the moon.

This is the name given by Xu Chuan. Under the analysis of various scientific research equipment such as transmission electron microscopes, scanning electron microscopes, and Raman spectrometers, the composition and structure inside have been figured out.

What we will do here is to try to replicate.

Carbon nanotubes can grow stably on the substrate of Yaochi Crystal, which means nothing needs to be said.

That is, the substrate material can be used, at least one of the substances, as the substrate of carbon-based chips.

Simply put, it is similar to the silicon wafer of the silicon-based chip, which allows transistors to grow and photoetch on it to form an integrated circuit.

Carbon-based chips are naturally inseparable from this substrate.

However, at present, related research only exists in some laboratories.

This is an extremely difficult research and development work, and it is not so easy to solve.

Including the replica experiment conducted by Xu Chuan now, it is just to manually disassemble the substrate material on the Yaochi crystal, and then use the CVD tube furnace to grow carbon nanotubes by vapor deposition.

As for whether the grown things have preliminary semiconductor properties, it is not very important for current research.

Naturally generated minerals are not as good as artificial smelting in most cases.

Therefore, this time the experiment was just to replicate the original material of the Yaochi Crystal to see if it was possible to artificially arrange the carbon nanotubes in a complete and orderly stack on the substrate.

That's what matters most.

Just as Xu Chuan was dealing with the research in hand, the door of the laboratory was pushed open.

Zhao Guanggui, director of the Institute of Materials Research, walked in quickly with a thick stack of documents.

"Academician Xu, the complete molecular dynamics simulation calculation data is out."

"Wait a moment while I finish processing these carbon nanotubes on my hands."

After hearing Zhao Guanggui's report, Xu Chuan didn't look back. He methodically handled the materials in his hands and finally sent them to the CVD tube furnace. After adjusting the parameters and starting the experiment, he put on his gloves and goggles. Picked it off.

On the side, Zhao Guanggui quickly handed over the molecular dynamics simulation calculation data and said simply.

"Judging from the results of molecular dynamics simulations, the carbon nanotubes in Yaochi crystals are formed in a high-temperature, oxygen-free, and high-pressure environment exceeding at least three hundred degrees."

"During the formation process, another material in the Yaochi crystal, the sulfur compound inside the material, may have played a catalytic role."

"Sulfide?"

Hearing this, a trace of surprise flashed across Xu Chuan's face. He had speculated on various possibilities, and also speculated that the Yaochi crystal contained key materials that played a catalytic role, but he had not really thought about sulfide.

Because in materials science, sulfide and carbon are relatively easy to react under certain conditions.

Especially under high temperature conditions, the reaction between carbon and sulfur will directly generate carbon disulfide, which will not only destroy the purity of the original carbon nanotube material, but also cause serious interference, because carbon disulfide is a liquid and has strong flow at high temperatures. sex.

Zhao Guanggui nodded and said: "Well, the supercomputer conducted molecular dynamics simulation calculations on the Yaochi crystal and found that the original initial form of the Yaochi crystal may have been liquid under the volcanic eruption of the moon."

"While flowing, carbon disulfide and certain internal sulfides are guided together in an oxygen-free and high-pressure environment. Carbon nanotubes may be guided to sort, and then deposited on the Ab-An feldspar family mineral substrate. , and then construct a neatly ordered array of carbon nanotubes."

While listening to Zhao Guanggui's report, Xu Chuan flipped through the simulation calculation data in his hand.

Judging from the molecular dynamics simulation calculation and inverse data of Yaochi crystal using the supercomputing center + chemical material calculation model, sulfide is really very likely to promote the stability and ordering of carbon nanotubes, neatly arranged in the Ab-An long Key catalysts on stone group mineral substrates.

It’s just that this catalyst is somewhat counter-intuitive to scientific research.

Frowning, Xu Chuan stared closely at the reverse speculation of the molecular dynamics simulation calculations, with thoughts in his eyes.

This material calculation data is indeed a direction he has never thought of.

If it is correct, it means that the various reproduction experiments he has conducted in the laboratory these days are wrong from the very foundation.

Of course, Xu Chuan is not afraid of making mistakes, as long as he can find the reasons and correct them.

Looking through the data in his hand, his eyes fell on a simulated 'Material Phase Characterization Diagram' of Yaochi Crystal. Staring at the familiar data with this kind of curve, he always felt inexplicably familiar.

"This kind of picture feels familiar"

On the side, Zhao Guanggui came over, glanced at the position Xu Chuan was browsing, and then found the corresponding picture on the simulation calculation data file in his hand.

"Is this calculated through activity evaluation and density functional theory calculations and simulations?" Looking at the chart in front of him, Zhao Guanggui frowned and said.

Xu Chuan nodded: "Well, there should be nothing wrong with the simulation picture, but I feel inexplicably familiar with this image, as if I have seen it somewhere."

Staring at this 'material phase representation diagram', he searched hard in his mind.

"Sulfur Carbon Nanotubes"

His pupils were slightly dilated, and experiments and research related to sulfur and carbon were like a movie in a movie theater, with images flashing through his mind.

But maybe it was because of the research and experiments he had done and the various data charts he had seen. For a while, he couldn't recall where he had seen this familiar feeling.

Shaking his head and retracting his thoughts, Xu Chuan breathed a long sigh of relief and said: "If sulfide and carbon disulfide played a key catalytic and guiding role in the entire process, then our previous research directions may have been wrong."

Zhao Guanggui frowned and said: "Carbon and sulfur have high similarity in chemical properties, coupled with the irreversible reaction of the two at high temperatures, we have indeed not considered this aspect before."

Generally speaking, catalysts guide chemical reactions by reducing the activation energy of the reaction to accelerate the rate of chemical reactions while maintaining the equilibrium state of the reaction.

Its mass and chemical properties remain unchanged before and after the reaction, which is a key property of catalysts.

For example, the catalytic oxidation of ethanol.

Generally, copper wire is used as a catalyst, and ethanol reacts with oxygen to produce acetaldehyde and water.

In this process, the copper wire first reacts with oxygen to form copper oxide, and then reacts with ethanol to form acetaldehyde and copper, thus achieving the catalytic oxidation of ethanol.

Throughout the process, although the copper wire participates in the reaction, the final quality and itself does not change.

The sulfide in Yaochi crystal is different.

Under high temperature and high pressure, sulfur and carbon will generate relatively stable carbon disulfide, and the physical and chemical properties of carbon disulfide are relatively stable.

Although it is volatile, it is not easy to decompose under normal conditions.

In other words, in Yaochi Crystal, this reaction will be considered irreversible.

Because whether it is Xu Chuan or him, when thinking about the formation process, the first instinct is to exclude sulfide from the catalyst.

But the supercomputing center combined with the chemical material calculation model gave a different answer, counterintuitively giving sulfide and carbon disulfide as the catalytic reasons that guide the orderly arrangement of carbon nanotubes.

This is indeed quite incredible.

"Could it be the supersaturation effect?"

Staring at the simulation data report in his hand, Zhao Guanggui thought for a while and then opened his mouth to propose a possibility.

"Huh?"

Xu Chuan looked over and reacted immediately: "You mean supersaturated catalysis?"

Supersaturated catalysis may refer to the process of promoting or accelerating supersaturated crystallization reaction by adding catalysts in supersaturated solutions.

This reaction occurs in a solution containing an excess of solute. When the solute concentration exceeds its saturation concentration at that temperature, supersaturation occurs.

The simplest and most understandable thing in daily life is actually a chemistry experiment done in high school, the preparation of supersaturated sodium chloride solution.

Of course, supersaturated catalysis is quite different from this concept.

Zhao Guanggui nodded and said, "Well, if sulfides, carbon disulfide and carbon nanotubes are supersaturated during the catalytic process, it is not impossible to stably guide the excess carbon nanotubes to vapor deposition."

"Although supersaturated catalysis is less common in materials science, it is not rare. For example, supersaturated Fe-N5 multifunctional catalytic sites are used in durable lithium-sulfur batteries."

Xu Chuan didn't care about what Zhao Guanggui said later. He was naturally very clear about these concepts. At this moment, only one thing flashed through his mind.

Lithium-sulfur battery!

He finally remembered that he had seen the familiar picture of the 'material phase characterization diagram' there!

That's right, it was discovered during the research and development of lithium-sulfur batteries, when studying the preparation and electrochemical properties of sulfur-multi-walled carbon nanotube composite materials!

Perhaps, he knew how to prepare carbon nanotube integrated transistors on a large scale by using supersaturated polysulfide and carbon disulfide as catalysts and guide materials.

But before he officially started, he still needed to make a phone call to the moon and ask the researchers there to help him confirm a situation in Yaochi Crater!