After shopping in the morning, Evan went to Inglewood in the afternoon and then went to Caltech.

At the library, Evan finds Leiden, who is in full swing to collect information to supplement the latest developments.

These are essential qualities and skills as a researcher.

When he saw Evan, Layton immediately closed his notebook full of memories and pulled him to exchange information about the experimental equipment and materials.

The library is not the place to talk, and the two go to Leiden's office.

There is plenty of office space in the PME building, so Leiden, who is only a postdoc, has a separate office.

"Evan, after reading the latest article, I found that what you said yesterday is very correct, how to get the right germanium single crystal is a big problem. Layton said while brewing coffee: "Judging from the available information, there are two most active researchers in germanium semiconductors, one is Bell Labs, and the other is Purdue University, and they have the technology to prepare high-purity germanium single crystals. ”

"If we want to save time and get results first, it's best to get the materials from them. ”

"But obviously, it's not easy, because they're also the most direct competitors, and they won't let this cutting-edge material flow out of their hands easily. ”

Evan nodded, agreeing with Layton's statement.

Isn't that a matter of course?

Those who are familiar with the history of semiconductors and computers can see at a glance that what Evan is doing is snatching one of Bell Labs' most brilliant achievements - the transistor.

The transistor is one of the greatest inventions in modern history, and the convenient and fast flow of information and automated production in today's society are all based on the invention of transistors.

If you don't have transistors, you wouldn't have a computer, a cell phone that's small enough to fit in your pocket, and if you want to play Tetris, its host might be the size of a room.

Evan knew that it would be difficult to snatch this result from Bell Labs.

But Evan still wanted to give it a try.

It was an impromptu decision made by Evan after that night.

Before that, Evan just wanted to get a Ph.D. at Caltech, connect with some potential classmates, alumni and teachers, and broaden his network in the scientific community. As for academics, he didn't want to perform too well, and even the scheduled "Nobel" results were "electron transfer theory" that would not really be discovered until decades later.

Before that, Evan had never wanted to snatch the honor that belonged to Shockley, at most, he just wanted to use his status as an alumnus to connect with him and help him when he left Bell to return to his hometown of Santa Clara Valley to start a business.

Before that, Evan's inventions were small things that could make some money, but they affected people decades later. Both the Rubik's Cube and the wheeled suitcase were invented in the seventies. Instant noodles are an exception, and the reason is that it was invented by myself. Seat belts are another exception, and this is for safety.

Evan behaved like this, in fact, subconsciously did not want the world to change too much, even if the world was not the world he understood.

But now, Evan has changed his attention.

Even if he woke up and everything came to naught, at least he once had.

If Evan succeeds, the father of the transistor will no longer belong to Shockley, and Silicon Valley will be a different place in the future.

And Evan himself, while gaining great prestige and honor, will wear a protective aura with a strong attraction on himself.

Evan will come to the fore as a "genius scientist".

Evan's companies will no longer struggle with talent, because many people will cry and shout to join, just to have the opportunity to meet him up close and work with him.

……

Regarding the issue of germanium, the experimental material, Evan and Leiden decided to buy it from Bell Labs through the usual way when they applied for the project in the new semester next year. Bell Labs is called a laboratory, but it is actually a corporate research institution, and although its big financiers are not bad for money, they may not refuse to have extra income.

Of course, Evan had to be careful not to reveal his true purpose when making the application.

After that, the two exchanged ideas and opinions on the design of the experimental protocol. Evan naturally had an advantage over Leyton on this point, and after a few rounds of the two battling each other, Evan took the lead.

After nightfall, Evan ended the exchange, and before leaving, he told Layton about his Christmas itinerary - he would return to Sacramento tomorrow and Los Angeles on the 28th.

When he returned to Los Angeles, the two could officially start research on germanium semiconductors.

Leiden said that in the next few days he would prepare some experimental equipment that could be used and easy to prepare, and try to persuade Professor Watson to give him another room to be used as a laboratory.

The next day, early in the morning, the three of Evan drove to Sacramento.

This time, there were two cars on the road together, one carrying people and the other carrying gifts. It just so happened that Bob and Haines drove one by themselves.

It was a beautiful day, and from the time I left Los Angeles, it was raining in many places on the road, and the road was slippery, so the speed of the car could not be increased. When the car arrived at its destination, it took a lot more time than usual.

As a result, Evan had to postpone his original plan to go to Magic7 to listen to the monthly report to the next day.

On the morning of December 24th, Evan came to the Magic7 factory.

It was Christmas, and the factory area was also renovated, giving people a festive atmosphere.

A seven- or eight-meter-high Christmas tree was placed on the small square in front of the office building, and instead of stars, a huge Rubik's cube was placed on the top of the tree.

Even though it's daytime, the colorful lights wrapped around the trees are still shining.

Passing under the Christmas tree, Evan paused for a long time before heading down to the conference room surrounded by executives.

In the morning, the executives reported to Evon, and in the afternoon, the executives held a year-end commendation meeting for the employees.

Evan did not attend the afternoon meeting, which was all chaired by Davidson.

As for the executives' year-end bonus, it is an option of cash plus company stock, which Evan has already approved as the chairman, mainly in cash, the number of options is not much, and the exercise price is given at the current value of the company, so the price is not low.

Among the executives who received the options, only Jean Léon said on the spot that he wanted to exercise the options.

In the evening, Magic7 hosted a thank-you dinner, and this Evan couldn't help but attend.

The dinner was held at The Citizen Hotel, Sacramento's oldest skyscraper, near Sacramento City Hall.

In addition to magic7's distributors and supplier representatives, the dinner was attended by congressmen from North Sacramento, managers of local Wells Fargo branches with which Magic7 does business, union representatives, and most importantly, Nina Warren, the wife of the Governor of California.