Chapter 293 Plan C after Plan B Fails
"Yuanguang, we need your help. After receiving the news, we increased imports from Dow Chemical and Sumitomo Chemical, hoping to complete the stockpiling of new photoresists needed in the next three years before the blockade is announced.

But the frustration is that they refused to increase exports at that time, and the actual export suspension was faster than expected. "Liang Mengsong looked worried. The 74-year-old has been in semi-retirement since last year.

Even though he is completely retired, he can't sit idle.

Especially today when the chip industry in Dongda is developing rapidly, an engineer who has devoted his life to chip research and development simply cannot tolerate this moment when he cannot personally participate in it.

Therefore, he only stepped back to the second line in appearance, but in fact he was still heavily involved in the actual work.

“Aren’t you also supporting manufacturers such as Nanda Optoelectronics, Tongcheng New Materials, and Feikai New Materials?
Even if the yield rate is a little lower, they should be able to catch up, right? " Chen Yuanguang looked at the elderly senior in front of him, thinking that the other party had not thought of this, so he reminded him.

It would have been fine if he hadn't mentioned it, but once Liang Mengsong mentioned it, his eyebrows would have twisted together:
"Don't say anything. They thought they would never have a chance to become regular employees. Good news keeps coming. After Sumitomo and Dow announced that they would not sell photoresist to us, we stepped up communication with these companies and asked them to provide samples for testing no matter what.

What they provided was not even worth looking at. It was not because the yield rate was too low, but because it did not meet the requirements at all.

Yuan Guang, as you know, topological semimetal is a new type of material that is completely different from silicon-based.

In addition to photosensitivity, photoresists used for topological semimetal recording also need to have the functions of hydrogen evolution and carbon dioxide reduction. "

This is because the excellent electronic conductivity and charge carrier mobility of topological semimetals lead to the existence of a state called topological electronic state, which is closely related to the activity of photoresist.

To this day, condensed matter physicists have not figured out the physical and chemical reaction mechanisms involved.

Sumitomo Chemical and Dow Chemical began relevant research around 2013 and invented related new materials.

If this type of material is used on traditional silicon-based chips, the effect will not be good and the cost will be very high.

But it is just right for application in topological semimetals.

With the large-scale mass production of topological semimetals in the past few years, this type of material has undergone an iteration, which has reduced the cost and indirectly improved the stability and accuracy of burning.

In fact, everyone knows in their hearts that relying on American and Japanese companies for such key materials is not a long-term solution.

Dow Chemical is an American company, and Sumitomo Chemical is a Japanese company.

The two can be seen as one.

If one side is disconnected, it is impossible for the other side to be connected.

In order to maintain a balance, Todai has been purchasing from both manufacturers in the past.

This strategy is commercially sound as it prevents suppliers from monopolizing core components.

But when geopolitical factors come into play, economic factors can be ignored.

Sumitomo Chemical and Dow Chemical made the same decision.

The Plan B prepared by the University of Tokyo is not even feasible. Even without considering the cost, it cannot be put to use.

For Dongda, low yield rate is not a problem, as it will catch up sooner or later through technological iteration.

Just like the dual exposure technology of mate60, it has been unanimously sentenced to death and eliminated by global chip manufacturers in terms of yield rate and technical prospects. For them, it is not only important to be able to eat enough but also to eat well.

For Huawei, this is a life-saving technology. I have to keep myself alive first. It doesn’t matter whether this technology will be eliminated or whether it has inevitable defects.

I just didn't expect that they would not be able to live up to the expectations at all.

"Shouldn't we have repeatedly emphasized at that time that although they are alternatives, as long as they can make photoresist that meets the requirements, we will definitely use it?" Chen Yuanguang expressed his incomprehension.

Photoresist is also a huge market, and Dongda chip manufacturers, led by SMIC, will naturally give preferential treatment to Dongda companies.

Even if the quality of Dongda Enterprise's products is not good enough.

In Chen Yuanguang's opinion, I told you that the gold mine is just ahead, but you don't go mining?

“There are many complex reasons for this.

America and Japan should have been preparing for this very early on.

First of all, Dow Chemical and Sumitomo Chemical have taken two different technical routes and have built a complete patent wall.

It is not easy for Dongda enterprises to bypass the patent wall and develop new photoresists that meet the requirements. "Liang Mengsong explained.

“Didn’t we say at the time that we should not worry about patents and just follow their technology route? Now it’s already this late, why are we still concerned about whether the technology is infringing?

If they don't export photoresist to us, wouldn't it be better if we just don't recognize their technology patents in China?
Besides, we only developed the photoresist based on their principles.

Aren’t foreign semiconductor companies studying our topological semimetal synthesis principles and process flows?
I have heard of at least three cases of espionage. They don't respect patents. Have these photoresist companies been brainwashed by Western intellectual property protection? "

Chen Yuanguang was indeed a little angry because they had been preparing for future disconnection since day one.

Almost all key semiconductor components upstream and downstream have a plan B.

Several companies are selected for each Plan B.

These large and small Plan B companies are the biggest reason why Dongda dares to reject unreasonable demands from abroad.

As a result, you are stuck in the field of photoresist alone.

How is this still playing?
A sentence naturally emerged in Chen Yuanguang's mind: When you find a cockroach in the room, it means there is a nest of cockroaches in the room.

The photoresist field faces such a dilemma, what about other fields?
These Plan Bs have been prepared for nearly three years, and now we can’t even produce the most basic laboratory products. What about other areas?
“Yuan Guang, I have discussed this in detail with the management of each of them before I came to see you.

We were right at the time. This was a big cake, and after achieving a technological breakthrough, they would be able to eat this cake smoothly. The reason why they wanted to bypass the patents of Sumitomo and Dow was that there were many companies in our plan B. As long as there were companies related to the photoresist business, we had contacts and maintained long-term communication.

They all think that only by bypassing the patents of Sumitomo and Dow can they get the biggest piece of the pie.”

Because Dongda's chip business is divided into export and meeting domestic demand, there is no problem selling it domestically by using Dow and Sumitomo's patents, but if you want to export it, you will definitely encounter long-arm jurisdiction and be banned from exporting.

Therefore, for those companies that may compete in the new photoresist market, they all want to survive in the largest market, not just the domestic market.

“Don’t they know that whoever makes a usable photoresist first will at least have an advantage in the original technology route?
I can understand their desire to expand their market share and completely replace Sumitomo and Dow, but the problem is that it is equally important to eat the cake first." Chen Yuanguang scratched his head, thinking that the thinking of these companies was a bit strange.

"That's right, these companies are all listed companies, they have no shortage of funds, especially for promising areas like new photoresists, it is very easy for these companies to raise funds in the market.

They are not short of money and have opened up two technical routes at the same time. One is to conduct research and development along the technical route of Dow or Sumitomo, and the other is to bypass their patent wall and conduct complete self-research.

However, since the second half of last year, countries led by Western University have gradually lowered their recruitment thresholds and even sent people to Eastern University for recruitment.

These companies have money, but they don't pay high salaries to their R&D personnel. Even senior researchers only earn more than 6 RMB at Shenhai, which is about US dollars.

This group of people faced targeted poaching from Xida and Neon, and a large number of R&D personnel left.

At that time, companies from West China University of Political Science and Law came to East China University of Political Science and Law to recruit collectively. These recruitments were not noticeable. In the field of photoresist, companies from East China University of Political Science and Law were not only not leading, but lagging behind. Therefore, this incident did not cause much waves, and the relevant parties did not stop it.

Looking back now, this was a collaboration between Xida and Neon to deliberately interrupt the development of Dongda in the field of new photoresist.

After these companies faced collective poaching, their entire R&D came to a standstill and has not recovered until now.

Because there are only a limited number of people at Dongda University doing relevant research and development, and most of them have been poached, Xida University and Neon offered very favorable conditions.

It is difficult to build up a team in a short period of time.

In short, there are many complex factors that have led to the current situation, including corporate greed, poaching by competitors, Dongda Corporation's own stinginess, and a lack of attention to research and development itself.

The relevant authorities are still investigating. The news I got before coming to Mianyang was that all the companies related to Plan B have faced different degrees of poaching. "

Go up to the army and plan.

The strategic planners at Xi'an University who have survived the Cold War to today always have plans that are closely linked to each other.

Although there may be short-term chaos due to the different thinking of presidents from different factions, they are always able to create trouble for their competitors in this chaos.

The underlying reason is that the advantages accumulated over the past decades are too huge.

Just like what netizens jokingly say, their hands are full of cards. The problem is that their hands really are full of cards. These cards may not be fatal, but they are enough to make you uncomfortable.

Before, American wanted to completely lock down the development of Tokyo University in the semiconductor field.

Dongda’s self-media would say that Dongda has a market of 14 billion people and will be able to catch up sooner or later.

This statement ignores how much cost you can afford, whether the market of 14 billion people is really that large, whether the University of Tokyo can really spare no expense, whether the R&D and innovation capabilities of the University of Tokyo alone can exceed the sum of all developed countries, etc.

There is also the issue of technology. Will the technology route chosen by Todai out of helplessness be better than the technology route that emerges after full market competition?

These are all unknowns.

It is true that China is a market of 14 billion, but there are 66 billion people outside of China, and Xi’an University can take over the remaining market.

Even if we don't count the countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, there are as many as 10 billion people just counting the beneficiaries of the world system built by Western countries.

These 10 billion people can continue to siphon the elites from the remaining 70 billion people into their own bodies, while the University of Tokyo is facing the problem of an aging population and its attitude towards accepting immigrants is extremely conservative.

Therefore, in Washington's view, it is inevitable that the University of Tokyo will produce chips that meet basic needs, but the probability of surpassing the chip4 alliance in the chip field is infinitely zero.

Therefore, the definition of victory leads to very different views on this matter among different people.

The decision-makers in Washington saw that Eastern University's technology would never catch up with their own and would inevitably fall behind in the field of artificial intelligence. Entrepreneurs like Bill Gates who were pessimistic about this strategy saw that Western University was handing over a 14 billion chip market to Eastern University's companies for no reason, which was a huge economic loss.

However, the emergence of topological semimetals has completely rendered Washington's strategy ineffective. China has surpassed them. The consequence of the failed strategy is that not only has China surpassed them in the field of artificial intelligence, but even companies from Malaysia can make the giants of Western University lose face.

Google is an undoubted American giant, while the artificial intelligence companies from Malaysia are more like Don Quixote.

Don Quixote could make a giant bleed. No one would have believed it, not to mention twenty years ago, even ten years ago.

But the reality is such a dramatic scene. Alpha left Google helpless, the giant was bleeding, and Don Quixote was growing stronger. He even changed the direction of his sword and aimed it at another giant named Amazon.

This is the current reality, which makes Xida feel uncomfortable and even frightened.

Even if there is a possibility that immigrants from the University of the East will return to China to start businesses with the technology they learned from the University of the West in the future, they have to adopt this approach that may exhaust the resources, at least for the time being, to prevent the progress and upgrading of China's technology and industry.

From a macro perspective, this is exchanging future time for present space.

As for the future, we can only pin our hopes on our country’s technology giants to be the first to achieve technological breakthroughs and reach the technological singularity in the field of artificial intelligence, which can help them gain both time and space.

If you only look at modern history, you would wonder why Germany, with its small territory and population, dared to gamble. But if you push history further back and extend history, you will find that Western countries are quite fond of gambling.

But this time, Xi’an University started a new gamble, exchanging time for space and integrating the power of the entire developed country.

"Okay, okay." Chen Yuanguang said okay twice in a row.

Just when Liang Mengsong thought that Chen Yuanguang had no other options and was about to offer some words of comfort, Chen Yuanguang rubbed his face and said, "Fortunately, we have Plan C."

(End of this chapter)