The production line is being installed and commissioned, and Li Guocheng will inspect the installation progress and quality every day.

Now Li Guocheng has to solve the yield rate in the chip manufacturing process. With Robin Hood's way of operating, the yield can reach 50% thankfully.

"Mr. Chairman, the equipment of our Big Robin Hood is very advanced, and the yield has been controlled at more than 40%, which is the best indicator at present", when the commissioning engineers drink too much, they will show off their technology.

Li Guocheng is too lazy to complain, he now knows why the cost of transistors is so high.

Lithography machine technologies are classified as follows:

Contact Printing: The mask is in direct contact with the photoresist layer. The exposed graphics are comparable in resolution to those on the mask, and the device is simple. Contact type is divided into soft contact, hard contact and vacuum contact according to the different ways of applying force.

Proximity Printing: A small gap between the mask and the photoresist substrate is about 0~200μm. It can effectively avoid the damage of the mask caused by direct contact with the photoresist, so that the mask and photoresist substrate can be used durably; The mask life is long (can be increased by more than 10 times), and there are few pattern defects. Proximity is most widely used in modern lithography processes.

Projection Printing: Exposure is achieved by using an optical system to concentrate light between the mask and the photoresist. In general, the size of the mask is made at 4 times the size of the pattern that needs to be transferred. Pros: Improved resolution; Masks are easier to make; The impact of defects on the mask is reduced.

The projection exposure method is now used in China, and the process of processing less than 5um has been tried. However, the processing accuracy of this production line is 100um. The gap is too big.

Forget it, for the time being, I don't plan to process integrated circuits, let's make transistors first.

But now the problem of yield must be solved, and there is no way to directly use a microcontroller, so Li Guocheng can only go back to the primitive era and build control circuits with independent transistors.

Fortunately, the principle is very simple, Li Guocheng only took half a day to complete the dismantling and design, using a total of more than 1,200 independent transistors.

Then, we commissioned the production of a 1-meter-square epoxy resin copper plate, and began to make the device soldering holes with a modified rotor.

The circuit is completed directly with a carving knife, and the final circuit board is 300*500mm in size. The next step is to wait for the production line to get the transistors in trial production, and then complete the soldering.

The mechanical part was commissioned to produce high-precision lead screws, and sufficient stepper motors were purchased.

When doing the above design, Li Guocheng felt very uncomfortable, which he could have completed, but in order to avoid suspicion, almost all the parts were commissioned and purchased.

Forget about the other parts, the accuracy is poor, the cost is high, and the efficiency is low, all of which are acceptable.

On this day, Li Guocheng was busy, and the chief consultant, Mr. Tang, came to visit.

"Mr. Cheng, how is it? The installation of the production line went smoothly, right? ”

"Everything is going well, however, the official start of construction is estimated to be delayed by a month."

"Ah, why?"

"I need to fine-tune the production line, the current manufacturing cost is too high, the yield is too low, and the cost advantage is not obvious at that time."

"Ah, you know the production line, too? Don't break it", Consultant Tang obviously has no bottom in his heart.

"Rest assured, I only use the moving part of the lithography machine for micro control, which reduces manual errors and losses, and will not affect the operation of the production line."

"Does it mean to change a part of the production line from manual operation to machine operation?"

"Consultant Tang's summary is in place", Li Guocheng couldn't help but give a thumbs up.

"That shouldn't be a problem, it's a big deal to return to the hand, isn't it, Mr. Cheng?"

"Exactly".

"If the retrofit is successful, how much will the yield increase?"

"It is expected to increase to 60%, which is 2 floors higher than the current one."

Li Guocheng is already very conservative, his goal is 80%~90%, after all, he has mature experience in China. Although the domestic advanced lithography machine cannot be copied over, it can improve the control accuracy.

At the same time, because it is a manual operation, the loss of the wafer is large. With automatic control, the loss can be reduced to a minimum, and the cost is also reduced.

Consultant Tang left the company with good news, and Li Guocheng returned to the laboratory to continue making production line modification parts.

In the commissioning of professional Robin Hood engineers, the time entered mid-April.

The first pilot production was very successful, and the transistors were produced in accordance with the requirements. However, the yield rate is surprisingly low, only 26%.

"Mr. Chairman, this is no way to do it, if it is operated by our big Robin Hood engineers, we will definitely be able to achieve a 40% yield rate. But you have to insist that your workers do it themselves".

These engineers are proud, and they are not at all worried that Li Guocheng will not pay the final payment, because the use of all funds is controlled by HSBC.

Li Guocheng did not complain, and accompanied by Advisor Tang, he had a celebration banquet with these Robin Hoods and sent them away.

In Li Guocheng's office, Chen Yuhe served tea to the boss and Ma Yong and withdrew.

"Lao Ma, I have worked hard at this stage recently, leading Robin Hood to learn, and now supervising the installation and commissioning of the production line."

"It should be! Although it was tiring, it did open my eyes. Thank you to the owner for giving me this opportunity".

"You know this very well. After communicating with Manager Chen Li, I think you will hand over the property to someone else and be in charge of the semiconductor business department, how about it? ”

"There is no problem, it is both a challenge and a tempering for me, and I will do my best."

"That's good. In the future, semiconductors will be our main business, and Mr. Chen and I are very optimistic about you."

"In fact, now it's like a dream, it is the company that has given me training and given me opportunities, as long as the company needs me, I will always be with the company."

"Good! Good! Good! I didn't misread you".

sent away Ma Yong, who was excited, and made a phone call to Chen Li.

"Aaron, have you negotiated?"

"It's negotiated, you can sit down."

Li Guocheng brought a new teacup, scalded it with hot water, refilled the tea and handed it to Chen Li.

"Now Longhua Technology has two business departments, and the personnel have slowly grown. In the future, you have to keep talents, and you have to think of ways to motivate talents."

"Aaron, what do you think?"

Li Guocheng slapped Chen Li's plump buttocks, "You are the general manager, you have to think clearly, is this stage of training all fleshy?" ”

Chen Li glanced at her, "Okay, my chairman."

"You summarize the company's current business situation and current situation, although Brother Hua will let it go, but we still need to communicate with Brother Hua, and if your incentive measures are completed, discuss with Brother Hua by the way."

"Okay, it's all up to you".

Thank you all for your support!! Ask for recommendations! Ask for a commuter pass! Ask for a review!

(End of chapter)