More than an hour later, Zhao Ye rushed to Loongson Design Company.

In fact, NAND flash memory has only been designed, and it has not yet started tape-out, let alone mass production, and it will be available at the end of the year at the earliest.

"Boss, this is the Loongson EDA-1.0 simulation experiment report."

Fujio Masaoka operates the Loongson EDA-1.0 software on a computer and calls up NAND data.

Zhao Ye sat in front of the computer and studied it carefully, since it was the result of the display of Loongson EDA-1.0, there was no problem with it.

He turned to Fujio Masaoka and said, "Very good, you can do further testing, and if there is no problem, you can start tape-out." ”

The cost of tape-out is very expensive, so when designing the chip, there will be more detailed testing to make sure that there is no problem, and then go to tape-out.

Tape-out is actually trial production, and if the tape-out is successful, the chip can be mass-produced.

Zhao Ye estimated that the NAND flash memory developed by Fujio Masaoka and others, due to the complex manufacturing process and high cost, a 20MB NAND flash memory, the production cost alone is more than 100 US dollars.

It's still very interesting!

If you sell it for $500, it's definitely in high demand.

NAND FLASH can be developed into CF card, SD card, SM card...... The market has broad prospects.

However, when the time comes, it will be necessary to develop a USB interface, as well as various card readers......

But that's okay, Borderless will launch its own brand of computers next year, which will develop a USB bus protocol.

"Contact IBM, HP and other companies to see if they can work together to develop USB serial interface standards, if they are unwilling, Wujiang Group can only go it alone, use products to win market recognition, so that Wujiang Group's USB bus protocol has become an established fact of industry standards!" Zhao Ye thought to himself.

Hearing this, Fujio Masaoka immediately nodded, and he also looked forward to the NAND flash memory being available on the market.

Zhao Ye thought for a while and said: "Even if the NAND chip is developed, if you want to apply it well, you need to do further development." Developers can make portable miniature memory cards based on NAND flash memory, which can be used in cameras, computers, mobile phones, multimedia players, ......"

"Hmm!"

Fujio Masaoka nodded, and also thought of the application scenario of NAND, which was almost the same as Zhao Ye thought.

Zhao Ye twisted his body to make himself more comfortable, and he said to Fujio Masaoka: "Oh, by the way, Fujio Makuoka, you are using the SLC architecture (Single-LevelCell) to develop NAND, that is, single-layer cell flash memory, and each unit stores one bit of data. ”

Hearing this, Fujio Masaoka nodded: "Yes, boss, we use the SLC architecture!" ”

Zhao Ye said: "Why not try to develop a multi-layer cell flash memory MLC architecture, by using a large number of voltage levels, each cell stores two pieces of data, and the data density is relatively high!" ”

MLC technology is the development trend of NAND Flash, just like CPU single-core, dual-core, and quad-core, MLC technology achieves a multiplication of capacity by storing more bits per cell, until a more advanced architecture comes out.

In the past life, Intel invented the MLC architecture in the mid-90s, and it is only seven or eight years from now. In fact, this technology was developed based on NAND, and Wujiang Group could have developed it earlier.

When Fujio Masaoka heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up and he was inspired.

MLC technology can be used to precisely control the number of charges on the Floating Gat so that it exhibits 4 different storage states, each representing two binary values......

As a result, it is possible to develop large-capacity NAND flash memory using MLC.

"I understand that with the MLC architecture, not only is the capacity larger, but the production cost may be lower than the SLC architecture!" Fujio Masaoka said excitedly.

Zhao Ye bowed slightly, it is true that as Fujio Masaoka said, the production cost of MLC is lower than that of SLC.

But......

MLC is not without drawbacks.

First of all, the service life is shorter than that of SLC, and the MLC architecture can only withstand 10,000 erase times, while the SLC architecture can withstand 100,000 erase times.

The second is that the access speed is slow, under the current technical conditions, the access speed of the MLC chip can only reach about 6MB in theory, and the access speed of the SLC architecture is more than three times faster than the access speed of the MLC architecture!

In addition, the current consumption of MLC is higher than that of SLC, and if MLC is compared with SLC under the same usage conditions, the current consumption of MLC is about 15% higher than that of SLC.

However, for the time being, the product is still pursuing large capacity.

Therefore, Zhao Ye reminded Fujio Masaoka to develop MLC flash memory.

However, SLC flash memory is also very important and will be widely used in the future, so a small number of people can be arranged to continue to study SLC and maintain the leading edge of SLC flash memory technology.

Zhao Ye told Fujio Masaoka and left the company.

Fujio Masaoka is like being beaten with chicken blood, and he is full of energy, and he can't help but look forward to the day when NAND goes public, he will slap his old club Toshiba Group in the face!

Thinking of the regret of the various high-level executives of the Toshiba Group, Fujio Masaoka couldn't help but be excited.

"I SPENT A FEW YEARS DEVELOPING NAND FLASH, AND EVEN IF I DIDN'T GIVE CREDIT TO IT, YOU ONLY GAVE ME A FEW HUNDRED DOLLARS AS A REWARD. Now, I'm finally going to raise my eyebrows! ”

……

……

Zhao Ye just went out from Loongson Design Company, thought about it, and asked the driver to drive to the nearby Wujiang Microelectronics Company.

"Boss, why are you here?" When Ni Guangnan saw Zhao Ye, he was surprised.

Zhao Ye said with a smile: "Come and learn about the development of Wujiang Microelectronics Company." By the way, TSMC has been poaching people recently, how many employees of our company have been poached? ”

After the establishment of TSMC, there is a shortage of talents, and the construction progress of wafer factories is very slow, and it is recruiting people all over the world.

It's a pity that Wujiang Microelectronics Company took the lead, and it had been digging and digging around the world before TSMC, and semiconductor talents had already been poached by Wujiang Group, and it also signed a long-term contract with the company.

It's okay to change jobs, but you have to pay a high penalty penalty.

The higher the position, the higher the liquidated damages.

Therefore, at present, few people from Boundless Microelectronics will jump to TSMC.

Ni Guangnan said with a smile: "TSMC has poached more than ten employees, but the technical level of these people is also average. ”

Zhao Ye smiled and said: "As the saying goes, 'come and don't be rude', since TSMC is poaching our talents, then we will also dig up their talents." ”

"We've been doing this all the time, but most of the employees have contracts and don't want to come. In addition, there are many semiconductor talents themselves from the treasure island and are unwilling to work in the mainland. Ni Guangnan shook his head and sighed.

Zhao Yehun didn't care, and said lightly: "If you don't want to come, don't come, don't be reluctant." ”

TSMC has the support of Baodao and many companies in Europe and the United States, and will definitely be able to occupy a place in the field of wafer foundry.

"Is the new fab built? We must hurry up to carry out wafer foundry business! Zhao Ye said in a deep voice.

There were no competitors before, so it's okay to say.

Now, TSMC has been born out of thin air and has to be guarded against.

Fortunately, there are currently two constraints that make TSMC's wafer foundry business unable to operate.

On the one hand, there is a lack of semiconductor talents, and the construction of wafer factories is slow;

On the other hand, ASML lithography machines have not yet been delivered.

Philips, as a major shareholder of TSMC, asked TSMC to purchase ASML lithography machines, and ASML's lithography machines are still relatively advanced in technology and inexpensive, so TSMC is also willing to purchase.

Only, after signing the order.

ASML has been slow to deliver the goods.

The reason is that the lens of ASML's lithography machine has been changed to a partner, which was previously with West Zeiss and now with East Zeiss.

However, the optical lens technology of East Zeiss is no worse than that of West Zeiss.

After Wujiang Group became the owner of East Zeiss, it spent a huge amount of money to update equipment to ensure the quality of lens production and increase research and development efforts.

Therefore, East Zeiss is fully capable of cooperating with ASML in the development of semiconductor optical lenses.

The lens will also be used in GPS's lithography machines.

ASML is currently unable to deliver lithography machines, and is mainly waiting for East Zeiss lenses.

At this point, West Zeiss is miserable.

In the 80s, East Zeiss and West Zeiss were a pair of difficult brothers.

ASML's lens order is very important.

Each lithography machine uses not one or two, but many.

TSMC has ordered more than 50 lithography machines from ASML, and if West Zeiss can get ASML's order, this wave will be able to make a big comeback.

However, fate is unpredictable, and the order that should have belonged to West Zeiss in the previous life has become an order for East Zeiss.

West Zeiss was robbed of ASML as a major customer by East Zeiss, and it may even become the last straw that breaks the camel's back.

TSMC is just in a hurry now, and every now and then makes a phone call to ASML to urge them to speed up.

Of course, TSMC also learned that the latest semiconductor lens developed by East Zeiss is more powerful, so it did not change manufacturers.

On the market, in addition to ASML, Nikon, Canon and Wujiang Microelectronics' "Dawning lithography machine" is more powerful.

There are not many partners left for TSMC to choose from.

As for the lithography machine produced in the United States, it is now completely outdated, and it is not as advanced as the Dawning lithography machine.

"How's the immersion lithography machine progressing?"

"There hasn't been much progress, and many aspects are still limited to theoretical research ......"

"Okay, take your time, if you can develop an immersion lithography machine in three or five years, it will already be a surprise......" Zhao Ye said with a wry smile, the difficulty of immersion lithography machine is relatively high, otherwise lithography machine manufacturers will not swarm to develop in the direction of dry lithography machine, and then later, companies in related industries around the world have invested billions of dollars in the direction of dry lithography machine.

Don't hit the south wall and don't look back, just go all the way to the dark!

In his previous life, someone made an analogy that Lin Benjian was standing in front of a moving aircraft carrier and wanted to stop it, which is indeed the case.

For Wujiang Microelectronics, immersion lithography can be regarded as a relatively new field, and many of them have to be explored by themselves, so it is normal to develop slowly.

If you don't make a sound, it's a blockbuster.

Ni Guangnan smiled and said: "I believe that the infiltration lithography machine is led by Lin Benjian, Yang Guanglei, Jiang Shangyi, Sun Yuancheng, Liang Mengsong, and Yu Zhenhua, and I believe that the six of them will definitely surprise you!" They are young, energetic, scrappy, and extremely talented! ”

TSMC Six Knights?

The six of them led the team to develop an immersion lithography machine, and Zhao Ye was still relatively relieved.

"By the way, Mr. Ni, the matter of the 8-inch wafer factory should also be carefully considered, and it is time to put it on the agenda."

"Okay, but with the current situation of Wujiang Microelectronics Company, I am afraid there are still many technical difficulties in building an 8-inch wafer factory, especially the process technology, which needs to be improved."

"There is time, and if you encounter any problems, you can solve them one by one!"

In fact, it doesn't matter whether you fight for the first place or not, but Wujiang Microelectronics Company must develop and build an 8-inch wafer factory, after all, everyone is already doing it, and if you don't invest in research and development, you will fall behind.

"Oh, by the way, I plan to separate the lithography machine development department, silicon wafer production department, chip packaging and other departments under the company, the current company is too bloated now, in the future, the company is still mainly engaged in chip manufacturing, just like TSMC, other equipment and materials are purchased from outside."

Separately, at least nominally, these companies do not belong to Boundless Microelectronics, and there are certain benefits to financing in the future or selling products to the outside world.

After the development and growth of these enterprises, they can have the characteristics of "small and specialized, specialized and refined, refined and strong"!

Of course, although these independent companies do not belong to Wujiang Microelectronics Company, they still belong to Wujiang Group, that is, they are still in a consortium, but they are a little more independent and more conducive to future development.

Ni Guangnan does not object to this, but agrees with it very much.

The company is getting bigger and bigger, and it is difficult to manage.

Moreover, many departments always think that the company can produce and sell itself, so the sense of crisis is not strong enough, and the innovation motivation is insufficient.

This is the same as the previous planned economy, anyway, the procurement task will be issued from above, and it is enough to meet the production task by yourself, what else do you need to struggle?

"The other major shareholder of Wujiang Microelectronics is the government, and this matter needs to be negotiated with the government!" Ni Guangnan suggested.

Zhao Ye nodded, indicating that he understood: "Well, I will discuss it with the government!" ”

Zhao Ye was resolute, and the next morning, he contacted the Shanghai government and put forward his ideas.

Zhao Ye said that even if the company is independent, they still continue to have shares in these companies, and the number is the same as before, a lot.

However, Zhao Ye proposed that he would inject capital into these companies and increase investment in research and development, and if the government is willing to follow the investment, he also welcomes it, and if he is unwilling, then the shares will be diluted.

The Shanghai government soon convened a general meeting to discuss and study the matter.

The government cares about the development of the enterprise, and it does not necessarily have to be the size of the shareholding.

If these companies were to become independent from Borderless Microelectronics, it would be more conducive to development, and they would certainly support it.

The meeting lasted for a week, and even people from the Beiping side participated in the discussion.

finally agreed to Zhao Ye's plan.

When Zhao Ye heard the news, he began to split the company of Wujiang Microelectronics.

Zhao Ye plans to split Wujiang Microelectronics into five parts:

Wujiang Microelectronics Co., Ltd.: Mainly engaged in chip manufacturing.

Dawning Lithography Machine Company: Mainly engaged in lithography machine manufacturing.

Wujiang Silicon Wafer Manufacturing Company: Mainly engaged in semiconductor silicon wafer manufacturing.

Wujiang Chip Packaging Company: Mainly engaged in chip packaging.

Wujiang Light Source Manufacturing Company: Mainly engaged in the research and manufacture of light sources.

Today's light sources are relatively easy to manufacture, but in the future, top-of-the-line lithography machines will not only need top-notch lenses, but also top-notch light sources, such as the EUV lithography machine produced by ASML, which uses extreme ultraviolet light sources. The light source is a 13.5-nanometer extreme ultraviolet light source produced by the bombardment of tin droplets by excimer lasers, and the United States can only do it commercially in the past life.

Zhao Ye took precautions and decided to study the light source from now on.

In addition to a Wujiang photoresist company, at present, the most difficult part of the chip manufacturing industry chain process is done by Wujiang Group itself. The rest will be handed over to other domestic companies.

The split of Borderless Microelectronics went very smoothly, because there were two shareholders of Borderless Group and the government, so there was nothing to talk about.

For each of the spun-off companies, Wujiang Group injects capital into it to further develop and grow, such as Wujiang silicon wafer manufacturing company, which can develop photovoltaic silicon wafers in addition to manufacturing semiconductor silicon wafers. If you have the ability to manufacture semiconductor silicon wafers, then you can manufacture photovoltaic silicon wafers.

The main difference between the two is purity, semiconductor monocrystalline silicon is at least 1000 times purer than photovoltaic monocrystalline silicon, and the former is much more difficult to produce than the latter.

But in China, photovoltaic power generation is still very potential, Zhao Ye has witnessed the glory of the photovoltaic industry in his previous life, so the future of Wujiang silicon wafer manufacturing company is promising! That may be a long time later, though.

……

At this time, the split of Wujiang Microelectronics Company caused a lot of discussion in China, but the impact was limited, and the popularity soon dropped.

Ordinary people don't care about companies, they care about consumer electronics that are closely related to their lives.

Recently, some newspapers have reported that the Beiping Wujiang factory, which produces the Imagine-BB machine, is in full production, and it is obvious that the Wujiang Group has a new product coming out.

(End of chapter)