"I heard that Professor Bai's research direction is CMOS, so I would like to ask, which aspect of CMOS is mainly used in research, since you have been concentrating on this aspect of research, you should know that it is actually very widely used, and our scientific research fund is currently investing in the field of optics, so we are more interested in the pattern sensor made by CMOS process. ”

The issue of translation has been roughly determined, and the three of them naturally talked about the investment of scientific research funds, whether the funds can be invested in this direction, and which direction will be mainly developed after the investment, which is a question that needs to be clarified at present.

Wang Zhengguo now wants to know clearly what kind of research Professor Bai Siwen is doing, and the other party obviously did not expect to meet experts this time, and there are really not many people who can have a certain research on CMOS technology in China, and the entire telecommunications engineering school can not find double-digit professionals in the same direction at all, except for students.

Once the investor decides to invest, he will continue to invest very steadily in the later stage, and will not retreat when he sees a small problem like those who don't know how to do it.

But if it is a few decades later, it is another matter, many pseudo-scientific research scholars in order to defraud investment, they will find those investors who are not very knowledgeable to fool around, and finally get the funds in their hands, the follow-up is naturally their final say, with the ability to pull the investment, you can control how I spend it?

Bai Siwen is still a scholar who has some research on CMOS technology, and learned that Wang Zhengguo is more interested in CMOS pattern sensors, although this is a deviation from his main research direction, but he still understands some of the situation.

"CMOS process to make optical sensors, this is still a very immature technology at present, there are many problems to face, whether it is active or passive structure, I expect that there will be no practical use in a short period of time, even if it can barely be made, its quality is miserable. ”

As a professional, the professional point of view is naturally very level, CMOS graphic sensor is used in consumer-grade digital products, which is a matter of 2000 years later, and even if it is an industrial-grade graphic sensor with low requirements for image performance, that is, the CMOS sensor used in the surveillance camera, it is also mature in the nineties, and it does seem a little premature now.

If we look at it purely from the relevant history of the previous one, it is not surprising that Wang Zhengguo got such an answer, which seems to be very reasonable, and it is impossible to engage in scientific research overnight.

"For now, it seems to be the case. However, the factors that hinder the practical application of CMOS pattern sensors are not unsolvable, as far as the sensor processing and manufacturing technology is concerned, with the current international level of lithography machines, I think it is enough to meet the requirements of use, and the reason why it cannot be practicalized is that the bigger problem is the design of the sensor chip itself, noise and dark current are problems that need to be solved through design. ”

At the same time, the lithography process required for CMOS graphics sensor chips was far behind the lithography machines used to make computer processor chips, and there was almost a gap of one or two generations between the two, so as long as the design problems of noise and dark current could be overcome, the production process equivalent to the processor chip was adopted in the 80s, and it was still expected to produce a usable industrial-grade CMOS sensor.

It is not easy to solve related problems, but as long as you can make up your mind to do it, it is actually possible to solve design problems, but the problem is that almost all CMOS researchers in the same period are talents that processor chip giants rush to want, and these giants are PC computer chips with better market prospects and stronger profitability.

Yes, that's right, the company that produces PC computer processors also needs CMOS process-related talents, so this is actually another huge market for CMOS process that Wang Zhengguo has been drooling in his heart before, but he hasn't been able to think about it much.

Since the 80s, whether it is Intel, Motorola and other original computer processor giants, or AMD such a new generation of computer processor celebrities, they have gradually abandoned the NMOS chip process, and began to fully switch to the use of CMOS process to make chips, which brings low energy consumption, high integration and other advantages are the needs of PC computers that are gradually booming.

That is to say, to do a good job in the research and reserve of CMOS material technology, in the eighties, the era of PC computers at the beginning, in fact, it already has the most basic computer processor production capacity, and other so-called lithography machines, that thing is indeed very necessary, which is a technical difficulty, but in the eighties, the lithography machine is far from such a big gap as later generations.

But then again, even if you can do a good job in CMOS technology, considering that the computer processor industry is an industry that is highly dependent on market demand, and in the 80s, there was no relevant personal PC market at all, and a small amount of market is not enough to cultivate a PC computer processor giant, so this is another reason why Wang Zhengguo is reluctant to think more.

The reason why we can be optimistic about the CMOS process of the graphic sensor is also because the Republic of China has a huge group of photography enthusiasts in the eighties and nineties, as well as the world's largest number of camera manufacturers, and the annual shipment is accounting for a quarter of the annual production capacity of the global camera at that time, and even a large number of cameras were exported to foreign countries to earn foreign exchange at the peak.

In such a huge camera industry market, as long as it can make qualified graphics sensors, China will definitely be able to feed a graphics sensor chip giant. Similarly, advanced graphics sensor technology will also lead to the transformation of the entire domestic camera industry, thereby reversing the tragedy of the previous one.

Only by following the trend of history, being good at seizing opportunities, and doing things according to market demand, can the industry develop, and put the promising CMOS pattern sensor not to do, and run to chase the foreign trend regardless of the domestic industry and market status, so that it is strange to be successful.

The topic returns to the problem of computer processor giants snatching up a large number of CMOS R&D personnel, that is, in this case, PC computer processors with huge markets and prospects abroad must be the first choice for CMOS researchers.

As for the graphics sensor, I'm sorry, the industry at that time was not optimistic about the CMOS process.

Before 1990, CCD graphics processor is the darling of the market and scientific research community, no one will think that CMOS graphics sensor can challenge the market position of CCD, it has been in the nineties with the exposure of the inherent defects of CCD sensors, coupled with the PC computer industry processing chip giants have been formed, a large number of bankrupt computer processor companies can no longer support a large number of CMOS process research and development personnel.

There is no way, some of the researchers who lost their jobs are lucky, and may be able to invest in large companies such as AMD and Intel at that time, and the rest can only find another way, since the computer processor industry has no future, then change the direction, so a large number of talents began to flow to the CMOS graphics processor industry.

Once the relevant talents are in place, and the CMOS pattern sensor has great potential, research and development is naturally advancing rapidly, to about 1995, CMOS has completely captured the industrial-grade graphics sensor market, and then continued to attack the consumer market, and soon won nearly half of the share from the CCD sensor, and even after 2010, the more professional digital back, aerospace optical satellite market and other CCD sensors have the most advantageous areas, have been gradually occupied by CMOS sensors.

Therefore, the development potential of CMOS pattern sensors is huge, and the reason why they were not able to develop in the eighties is mainly because the CMOS industry cannot retain talents, and the external CCD sensors are strongly attacking.

Under the internal and external difficulties, this research and development tends to stagnate, but its potential is there, as long as there is talent and capital investment, and there is a certain market to recoup the investment, even in the eighties, it is entirely possible to put it into practice.