Investment in materials R&D is a big hole, but it also depends on who invests in it.

Having tasted the sweetness from the SG-1 wire, Manager Sun had already made up his mind and hugged the thighs of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and did not let go.

As for Lu Zhou, Manager Sun is willing to ask him, and he is also happy to guide them.

In a big way, it can help Chinese enterprises to establish their core competitiveness in the global market.

From a practical point of view, it is also profitable for him.

In the case of SG-1 materials, every centimeter of SG-1 wire produced by Baer Group includes the cost of patents. Although this income is not as rich as that brought to him by lithium batteries, it is also quite considerable.

After thinking for a while, Lu Zhou said in a casual tone: "I don't know what to say about the future development direction of your company. But now that you've established an advantage in the production of carbon-based materials, why not consider expanding that advantage? ”

Hearing this, Manager Sun's face immediately showed a look of attention.

"Oh? What is Professor Luk's opinion? ”

"It's not a high opinion," Lu Zhou smiled, paused for a moment, and then continued, "It's just that I heard that recently a research team at the University of California has successfully synthesized graphene nanoribbons with a width of only 1 nanometer and a length of 50 nanometers in the laboratory through an interesting method. At present, this research has aroused the interest of IBM, and it is widely expected to be used in the production of next-generation carbon-based chips. ”

As we all know, 7 nanometers is the physical limit of silicon-based transistors, and once the transistor size is below 7 nanometers, the behavior of electrons will be limited by the influence of quantum uncertainty, creating a quantum tunneling effect through "walls" that they would otherwise not be able to pass through. In such a situation, silicon-based transistors will no longer be reliable, and the upgrade of chip manufacturing process technology will also face great challenges.

In order to meet this challenge, it is almost the consensus of industry and academia to find new materials to replace traditional silicon and produce electronic devices with smaller size and better performance.

According to the known research results, there are already options such as carbon nanotubes, molybdenum disulfide, black phosphorus, graphene, and tungsten diselenide among several technical routes that are considered feasible.

Because he is researching carbon nanomaterials, Lu Zhou is naturally more optimistic about the technical route of graphene.

In fact, it is true that graphene has the potential to be used as a semiconductor material in electronic devices even though Mott insulators have been observed.

Chips......

Hearing Lu Zhou say this, Manager Sun couldn't help but have a headache.

Although the thighs are thick enough, they always jump into the pit, which is nerve-wracking.

Professor Lu...... Could it be that we are advised to jump into the big pit of chips? ”

Seeing the embarrassed expression on Manager Sun's face, Lu Zhou smiled and said, "You are not an electronics company, it is definitely unrealistic to let you develop chips, I just think that since we have completed the production of graphene materials with a width of several thousand nanometers, why not try to challenge graphene nanoribbons with a width of several nanometers?" I know these are two very different technologies, but I think we have the ability to do it. ”

Lu Zhou is not just talking.

He had this in mind when he was chatting with Professor Bawandi on the plane.

Of course, the current research must still be based on controlled nuclear fusion.

What's more, even if he is interested in the black technology of carbon-based chips, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study does not have talents in this area.

Let's wait until the controlled fusion project is over to think about it.

I believe that by that time, many problems will not be a problem.

With a helpless smile on his face, Manager Sun shook his head.

Graphene nanoribbons of several nanometer widths......

It's easy to say.

It's all money......

……

The Controlled Nuclear Fusion Exchange Conference lasted five days.

For Lu Zhou, the harvest of these five days can also be described as quite rich.

In addition to those interesting lectures, the advanced technologies displayed by major research institutes also greatly enriched his horizons.

He procured at least $40 million in equipment, including the FRC unit of the Three Alphas.

Although compared with the microwave heating device, the function of the FRC device only makes the heating speed of the plasma a little faster and more stable, which is not a key technology, but it is still somewhat useful.

In addition to the non-critical components of the FRC device, there are also key components such as the He-3 atomic probe in the list purchased by Luzhou.

Speaking of the He-3 atomic probe, one has to mention Professor Lazersson.

The former engineer at PPPL Laboratories has now stepped into industry as a technician and is now thriving in the world of plasma physics.

With the contacts he has accumulated in the academic world, he knows better than everyone what kind of experimental equipment those scholars need, and he has made the He-3 atomic probe technology, which has little oil and water, bigger and stronger.

At the dinner on the closing night of the conference, while chatting with this old friend, Lu Zhou learned that his business has now grown bigger and bigger, not only maintaining close cooperation with more than 20 plasma research institutes, but also becoming one of the suppliers of the ITER project.

Not only that, but the He-3 atomic probe technology has also been upgraded with his improvements, and the observation accuracy of high-density plasma has now been significantly improved.

Speaking of which, when the He-3 company was first established, Lu Zhou seemed to have invested millions of dollars.

So, he seems to be one of the shareholders of this company?

"I'm willing to bet it's definitely one of the most successful investments you've ever made," said Professor Lazersson, smiling about the past, "and the millions of dollars are now worth at least 100 million." When the prospects for controlled fusion technology become clear, I plan to list on the NASDAQ plate, and then you just have to wait and count the money. ”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Really? Good luck with that. ”

Professor Lazersson looked at Lu Zhou with some surprise: "Why aren't you excited at all?" ”

Lu Zhou made a helpless expression: "...... When you have so much money that you can't spend it in your next life, even if someone suddenly tells you that you have made hundreds of millions, I'm afraid you will be expressionless. That's how I feel about money right now, you can probably relate to it. ”

Although if compared with the billionaires on the Forbes wealth list, his assets of hundreds of millions of dollars may indeed not be ranked, but the problem is that his hundreds of millions are cash, and the meaning is completely different.

In addition, his consumption level is not high, although he spent a lot of money to establish the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, but unexpectedly now not only has he recovered his capital, but also earned a lot for him because of patent fees.

Professor Lazersson looked at Lu Zhou in a daze, and just watched it for a long time.

It was a long time before he shook his head.

“…… No, I don't. ”

……

After the closing dinner of the meeting, the group returned to their hotel rooms one after another, ready to pack their luggage.

The flight back to China is tomorrow morning, so in order to make more time before boarding tomorrow, the preparations must be made in advance.

In the corridor of the hotel, he found Fei Jingqi and Dian Cili, and Lu Zhou instructed them.

"Tomorrow at eight o'clock in the morning, you will follow Professor Li Changxia to take a plane, remember not to get up late then."

Fei Jingqi: "Okay professor...... Won't you go back with us? ”

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.

"I still have some things to deal with, so you can go back first."