Technology: Start by selling mobile phones

"Mr. Mo, the power-on ceremony will begin now."

"Okay, let's start!"

August 11, 9 a.m.

As the boss behind "Yellow River Storage", Mo Ran came outside the lithography machine workshop that took four months to renovate, and conveyed the official start-up instructions through the monitoring screen.

After a while, in the closed photolithography machine workshop, dozens of engineers in dustproof suits started to move.

Although it was a bit formalistic, I have to say that Mo Ran couldn't help but feel a little excited at this moment.

but.

After the excitement, there was a long wait, as if nothing had happened.

In fact, the lithography machine sounds very high-end and complicated, but in fact, with the rapid advancement of intelligent technology in recent years, AMSL has made the lithography machine highly integrated and intelligent year by year.

There is no essential difference between starting up and completing the self-test and the self-test of a copier, and no manual intervention is required.

and.

Unlike most people's imagination that lithography machines are huge, in recent years, in order to meet the commercial needs of global transportation, AMSL's lithography machines have been miniaturized.

The entire lithography machine is designed like a container-sized machine. The DUV lithography machine in front of you is also square and about the same size as a minibus.

About ten minutes later, a voice finally came from the surveillance screen.

"The self-test is completed and everything is normal with the lithography machine."

Li Zhi, who was accompanying him, breathed a heavy sigh of relief. If the lithography machine was normal, it meant that the chip production business of "Yellow River Memory" had officially started.

Mo Ran also breathed a sigh of relief and nodded with satisfaction.

After booting up normally, the next step according to the plan is to tape out the main control chip of Nietzsche's own "U3 high-speed TF memory card" (tape out = trial production to confirm whether the process and chip performance can meet the standards).

After the tape-out is successful, it will be put into formal production.

By then, Nietzsche's "Jinghong Series" TF memory cards will use Nietzsche's own main control chip.

As we all know, there are two key factors that affect the reading and writing speed of TF memory cards:

The first is the type of flash memory particles (chips). The better the flash memory particles, the faster the reading and writing speed.

The second one is the "main control chip".

The main control chip is equivalent to the "control center". Its function is to reasonably allocate data to each "flash memory particle" to ensure that all "flash memory particles" can complete the storage work in an orderly and efficient manner.

It can be said that the main control chip assumes the entire data transfer role. Only if it has strong processing power and fast processing speed can the role of flash memory particles be maximized.

certainly.

Although the main control chip plays a great role, after all, it has a single function and simple tasks. The manufacturing process of Nietzsche's "U3 main control chip" is only 48 nanometers, and the U1 main control chip provided to "NetEase Select" has a manufacturing process of only 48 nanometers. 56nm.

But this is just right.

Although the DUV lithography machine purchased by Nietzsche is 32 nanometers, considering that the entire "lithography machine team" has just been formed and lacks experience, it is obviously much easier to start with the 48 nanometer process, which is very suitable for cultivating the team.

Nodding with satisfaction, seeing that the "power-on ceremony" was also a perfect success, Mo Ran called Li Zhi back to the office on the third floor to discuss the next plan.

After making tea and sitting down, Li Zhi took the lead and said:

"Mr. Mo, everything seems to be going well now."

"The U3 main control chip also has complete and mature design drawings. Successful tape-out will not be a problem. The next main task is to improve the chip yield rate and reduce costs."

"This process will take about one to two months. When the yield rate is stable and the output increases, we can start selling our main control chips to the market."

"Now, we are truly a chip company!"

After saying that, Li Zhi felt a little emotional. No one expected that "Yellow River Storage", which was established less than a year ago, would launch its own domestic "TF memory card" main control chip so soon.

Mo Ran was much calmer.

In fact, he and Li Zhi discussed the subsequent development plan of the "U3 main control chip" in the past two months.

The production capacity of a DUV lithography machine is very large when it is operating at full capacity. It is obviously not enough to rely solely on orders from Nietzsche's "Jinghong Series" and "NetEase Strict Selection".

The lithography machine has a very important indicator called WPH, which is unit capacity per hour, indicating how many wafers can be processed in one hour.

The 32nm lithography machine purchased by Mo Ran is a mid-to-high-end DUV lithography machine. It can achieve a WPH of 170+, which means it can process 170 wafers in one hour.

The wafer is similar to the old-fashioned vinyl record discs, round in shape, usually 12 inches, and then the photolithography machine will engrave the set "chip circuits" on the entire wafer in batches.

After the entire wafer lithography machine is completed, the wafer will be cut into small bare dies, which are the original chips.

After the packaging is completed, each small bare die (die) becomes a common chip on the market.

For example, Nietzsche's "U3 main control chip" can cut about 700 bare dies on each wafer. Including the 48-nanometer process, which requires about 8-10 photolithography times, nearly 1.2 million bare dies can be produced in a day. In one month, the production capacity easily exceeds 20 to 30 million units.

Nietzsche could not digest such a volume internally.

but.

Export sales are also very difficult.

Although the performance of "Nietzsche U3 Controller" is not bad and reaches the first-tier level, the largest share of the domestic market is still controlled by "Huirong" and "Phison" of Taiwan Province, "SanDisk" of the United States and "Samsung" of South Korea. in hand.

SanDisk, Samsung, Huirong, their main control chips are also very good!

Again, other manufacturers are using it well, why should they replace it with your "Nietzsche's main control chip"?

This is also the biggest dilemma that domestic chips encounter in the market-oriented market.

Mo Ran was well aware of the difficulties and troubles involved. He looked up at Li Zhi, nodded and said:

“That’s right, from now on ‘Yellow River Storage’ will become a real chip company!”

"But the days to come will be more difficult, how about it? Is there any clue about export sales?"

Li Zhi was originally a little excited, but when he heard this, his excitement suddenly subsided.

Mo Ran understood immediately and comforted:

"There's no rush."

“As a small business, it is normal for others to look down upon us at Yellow River Storage.”

“The most important thing now is to use our main control chip in our own products ‘Jinghong Series’ and ‘NetEase Selected’ U1 memory cards. Over time, the market will understand.”

"Our main control chip is definitely not bad."

After saying these few words, Mo Ran said no more.

After a second thought, I suddenly remembered that I had obtained a 48nm "NPU chip design drawing" a few days ago.

Now that the photolithography machine of "Yellow River Memory" has been officially put into operation, it is time to hand over this chip to them and let them stream out a slice to test the specific chip parameters.

Thinking of this, Mo Ran immediately told him that there was a brand new "NPU chip" ready for tape-out.

Li Zhi was stunned for a moment when he heard that it was an NPU chip with a new architecture.

But when he heard that it was only a 48-nanometer process, Li Zhi was instantly relieved and no longer surprised.

After all, the mainstream chips on the market now have reached 10 nanometers or even 7 nanometers. Although NPU chips are a brand new chip type, the 48 nanometer process seems to be a bit behind.

Seeing this, Mo Ran added:

"It's not just the tape-out of this 48nm NPU chip."

"I have applied for a patent for this NPU chip architecture. Next, the engineers in your R\u0026D team will try to develop 32nm, 28nm or even 18nm NPU chips based on this architecture patent."

"The design team, manufacturing team, and R\u0026D team must all work together step by step. You have to keep this in mind."

"Um."

Li Zhi didn't dare to neglect and nodded hurriedly.

"correct."

When it came to business, Mo Ran's mind gradually became active, and he changed the subject and continued:

"How is your R\u0026D team's research on the 3D NAND-CJiang architecture patented technology I gave you last time?"

"Is there a breakthrough?"

Mo Ran suddenly asked about this, which caught Li Zhi off guard.

After dozens of seconds, he looked troubled and whispered:

"Mr. Mo, I have handed this matter over to the R\u0026D team before, but we encountered some difficulties."

"or……"

"I'll call Wang Wei, the head of the R\u0026D team in charge of this matter, to come over and give you a personal report."

Mo Ran frowned slightly, a little surprised.

"Okay, just ask him to come over."

soon.

A middle-aged man in his forties walked in wearing glasses. It was Wang Wei.

In fact, Mo Ran hardly appeared in "Yellow River Storage" on weekdays. Even these core technicians were not too familiar with Mo Ran. At this time, they were still a little cautious when meeting the legendary mysterious boss.

Mo Ran said:

"Don't be nervous, Mr. Wang. I'm here mainly to ask about 3D NAND - CJiang's architecture patented technology."

"I heard that you have encountered some difficulties. What are the specific circumstances?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Wei immediately understood.

He glanced at Li Zhi subconsciously, then showed an embarrassed look and said:

"Mr. Mo, to be honest, the difficulty we encountered was that the 3D NAND architecture patent you provided was a bit too difficult... We couldn't figure it out for a while."

too difficult?

Mo Ran was quite surprised. This was the first time he encountered such a situation.

You know, he had also obtained some optimization procedures, technology and other documents from the system before, but he never had such a problem.

At this moment, Li Zhi coughed lightly and explained:

"Mr. Mo, to be precise, it's because there are too many subdivisions in the chip industry."

"Gong Wang and the others were previously recruited by Mr. Bao Youcai. The team's main focus is also on the chip production and packaging of photolithography machines, as well as the main control chip..."

"The 3D NAND you provided should be a 'memory chip'. The flash memory particles are professional. It is normal for Wang Gong and others to not understand it."

Mo Ran frowned, obviously not satisfied with this answer.

"No one in the entire team can understand this 3D-NAND?"

"Also, now that you have discovered this problem, haven't you hired anyone? There are always such professional engineers on the market, right?"

Li Zhi saw Mo Ran's face gradually becoming angry and said hurriedly:

"Mr. Mo, we are already trying our best to recruit people."

“But the current industry reputation of our ‘Yellow River Storage’ is indeed difficult to attract real industry leaders, and the salaries offered by Taiwanese and foreign chip manufacturers are much higher than ours.”

"Of course, we have met with a few ordinary engineers, but they are not very familiar with the 3D-NAND architecture you provided, so it is difficult to achieve anything in a short time."

Mo Ran was suddenly surprised and helpless.

It is a fact that Huanghe Storage cannot attract the top industry players to join, but he did not expect that the "3D NAND - CJiang architecture patented technology, quality: excellent (Grade A)" provided by the system would be so difficult? In other words, is the technology so advanced?

Listening to this, it seems that domestic technology in this area is still blank, which is indeed a bit difficult to deal with.

Moran's frown deepened, and at this moment, Wang Wei, who had been cautious at the side, suddenly shouted softly.

"Mr. Mo..."

"Um?"

"I do know someone. He is an alumnus of Zhejiang University and a junior student of mine. He also has a master's degree in microelectronics from the National University of Singapore and a master's degree in physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the United States. He knows very well about 'memory chips' and is a top expert in this field. "

"In the first half of this year, he has been looking for a better job after leaving a chip company in Taiwan Province for some reasons..."

Hearing this, Mo Ran suddenly interrupted:

"What now? Still looking for a job?"

Wang Wei shook his head hastily.

"I just had a few chats with him on WeChat a few days ago, and now he has received a brand new offer, an invitation from the American Hynix Company."

"But he should still be in the country and hasn't left yet. If you think it's okay, can I give you a contact information and you can talk to him in person?"

"I can guarantee that with my junior's ability, I can handle the 3D-NAND architecture you provided without any problems!"

Master of Microelectronics from National University and Master of Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

He switched jobs from a Taiwanese company to Hynix in the United States.

If what Wang Wei said is true, then Mo Ran can be sure that this person is definitely the top talent in the industry.

Mo Ran naturally didn't want to give up such an opportunity, so he said directly without any hesitation:

"Okay, then give me his contact information and I will contact you first."

But as soon as Mo Ran finished speaking, Wang Wei added:

"Don't worry, Mr. Mo. I have another situation I want to tell you in advance."

"Do you know why I, a young boy, resigned from a Taiwanese company?"

"Why?"

"It's amazing to say that my younger brother's name is 'Zheng Qian'; just like his name, he attaches great importance to salary. It is said that he resigned from 'Powerchip Technology', the best memory chip company in Taiwan." Because of the pay.”

"This time he chose the offer from Hynix in the United States. The main reason was that in order to introduce him, Hynix offered a top-notch salary that is far higher than the industry level, which is estimated to reach US$1.5 million."

"Of course, his ability is worth it!"

Zheng Qian?

Make money?

$1.5 million? !

Ten million annual salary!

Mo Ran tapped his fingers lightly on the table.

The only disadvantage of good things is that they are expensive. The same is true for talents. The only disadvantage is that they are expensive!

You know, looking at the entire Niji collection group now, the general annual salary of senior executives is only between 200,000 and 300,000.

Even if most of the engineers in the "Yellow River Storage" R\u0026D team earn hundreds of thousands, there are very few who can get an annual salary of one million!

As for the young boy Wang Wei was talking about, Hynix’s asking price was 1.5 million, which was still a beautiful price!

Such talents are really far away from the current "Yellow River Storage"!

While thinking, suddenly.

Wang Wei glanced at the phone screen.

"Mr. Mo, I asked just now. It may be too late."

"My little brother will fly directly from Shanghai to the United States at 6pm tomorrow."