Chapter 174: The Most Accidental Episode
“Our laboratory’s production capacity has already reached 6N. If we can achieve cooperation, we are confident in scaling mass production capacity to 7N within a year.”
Mass producing 7N—what concept is that.
The Soviet Union doesn’t have this technology either.
East Germany is still crawling from 4N toward 5N right now.
The situation in China is unclear, but they have some understanding of East Germany.
Texas Instruments’ first batch of commercial logic chips used something between 6N and 7N.
The sound of swallowing saliva in the room stood out exceptionally clearly.
This is equivalent to directly surpassing Silicon Valley’s current latest level.
“Dr. Huang, are you telling the truth?” Weiss’s voice was somewhat dry.
Müller’s hand under the table was already clenched tight.
Huang Kun showed strong confidence at this moment: “Of course.
You should be very clear about China’s weakness in industrial foundation and the gap with East Germany.
We can only use the simple CZ method to pull monocrystalline silicon and achieve 5N, and this is based on using high-precision crucible materials and purification equipment.
East Germany’s industrial foundation is much better than ours, and they can only achieve 4N.
Our current technical route around 7N is already very clear; we’re just limited by shortages in materials and equipment, preventing us from advancing toward this goal.”
Weiss glanced at Müller, who knew it was his turn to speak: “Dr. Huang, could you give us a detailed introduction to your technical route?”
Huang Kun stood up and went to the prepared blackboard:
“Have you heard of ion implantation technology?”
Müller and Weiss replied: “Yes.”
Huang Kun continued: “That’s good. This technology is a key process in semiconductor manufacturing for introducing dopants into pure silicon wafers, mainly used to change the electrical properties of silicon.
It is also a conceptual technology proposed by Silicon Valley.
We have completed data predictions for all implantation distributions involved in ion implantation, including ion-lattice collisions, energy losses from nuclear stopping and electronic stopping, defect formation, and diffusion.”
“Impossible!” Weiss couldn’t hold back.
It was precisely because Huang Kun was indeed one of the founders in the field of lattice dynamics that he didn’t say you were deceiving us.
It was exactly because they were all scientists and engineers familiar with semiconductor processes that they knew how great the difficulty was.
The general semiconductor manufacturing process involves production and debugging simultaneously.
Now Chinese people are telling you that we have completed simulations at the mathematical level and even achieved good results.
This was somewhat beyond their cognition.
“Dr. Huang, I’m not questioning your ability, but this sounds too unbelievable.
It’s like we’re all exploring a forest, and you haven’t even set out yet tell us you’ve already seen the entire forest, and you just need us to lend you some tools to successfully explore the whole forest.
Doctor, do you understand what I mean? This is too unbelievable.
I have some understanding of ion implantation; we have also done some theoretical research on it. It involves such complex physical processes—it’s hard to imagine it could be calculated out through computation.”
Huang Kun thought to himself, yes, if it weren’t for the Raspberry Pi, I wouldn’t dare believe we achieved it. “Whether you believe it or not, the fact is that it is so.
Otherwise, we wouldn’t dare say we can break through to 7N in one year.”
Huang Kun didn’t dare say that we can see the full view of the forest because we have satellites, and the satellites have already scanned the forest.
Huang Kun continued: “I can give you some data and mathematical models afterward; you can go back and verify if what I said is correct.
Alright, continuing: because ion implantation requires purity of silicon, 5N silicon definitely cannot meet the requirements for ion implantation.
We need to raise the purity of silicon by at least one order of magnitude.
This is not just for the radio product; power devices and low-noise transistors perform better with high-purity silicon, and when we make other semiconductor devices, high-purity silicon based on ion implantation performs much better.
So in terms of silicon purification, we need cooperation on purification equipment and detection methods.
Similarly, we can provide help to East Germany in crystal growth precision.”
The crystal growth control here relies on temperature gradient control and dopant addition to ensure uniformity and stability of the wafer; China has a natural advantage in this aspect.
“And once we can produce high-purity silicon, we can proceed to the next step of ion implantation.
In ion implantation, we lack ion implanters, high-precision accelerators, stable ion sources, high vacuum systems, and mass analyzers; we also lack high-temperature annealing equipment and electrical testing capabilities.
Our advantages are in device design, computational simulation, and physical model construction.
We have a natural basis for cooperation.”
After Huang Kun finished speaking, Weiss thought for a moment: “Dr. Huang, what you said is abstract; what we provide is actual equipment.
And many of those devices you just mentioned, we don’t have either.”
Huang Kun said: “I know, but with East Germany’s industrial foundation, if we handle the design and you handle production, we can make them and put them into use.
You are also restricted and cannot obtain ion implanters for semiconductor industry manufacturing.
But we can provide help in design to build high-precision, stable equipment suitable for semiconductor manufacturing.”
China is too weak in materials science, resulting in having the Raspberry Pi but it’s like a martial arts master with moves but no internal energy—equally embarrassing.
Not just the Raspberry Pi; Chinese scientists have very solid theoretical internal energy, plus a vast domestic mainland market that can absorb the semiconductor devices produced.
While East Germany has internal energy but no moves.
They lack a market, and the Soviet Union positions them not for making semiconductors, so there are hardly any resources invested in the semiconductor industry.
They have some semiconductor device design capabilities but an immature manufacturing ecosystem, lacking complete industrial chain support, unable to achieve a closed loop from design to mass production.
And precisely because of this, China naturally hopes to cooperate with East Germany on this matter, using East Germany’s internal energy to cultivate its own strength.
“Dr. Huang, what you said sounds great, but the problem now is, how can we believe you?”
Huang Kun pulled out a document from his briefcase: “This is a paper on the full-process simulation of ion implantation; you can take it back and look. This paper is enough to demonstrate our capabilities.”
If the content chatted with Li Zhiqiang was all empty talk with no progress, then chatting with Huang Kun was full of substantial content.
Many parts inside, even senior practitioners couldn’t judge true from false.
Weiss and Müller felt they gained a lot, but they couldn’t judge the value of this gain.
“Dr. Huang, after we return to Berlin, we will certainly study your paper carefully and look forward very much to achieving cooperation with China.”
Huang Kun watched the departing backs of the others, hoping inwardly that cooperation with East Germany could be achieved unaffected by the political environment.
America’s oppression was too intense, intense enough that they had to reveal part of their ion implantation research results to gain cooperation with East Germany.
If it weren’t for America, they actually wouldn’t mind developing slowly and climbing the tech tree gradually.
In a meeting room of the East Germany Academy of Sciences, the atmosphere was serious and focused.
Sitting in front of Müller and Hans was Professor Hermann, the expert responsible for scientific project decision making; besides Hermann, there was also Martis Falter, a core figure in East Germany’s semiconductors.
He was sitting at the table, holding a paper just transmitted from China.
His brows were furrowed, his eyes flashing with a mix of shock and excitement.
Falter took a deep breath and slowly spoke, his voice revealing undisguised excitement:
“Just as Huang said, the theory they built describes the distribution and stopping of ions in solids and can be regarded as the standard model in this field.
It describes the distribution pattern of ions in materials when high-energy ion beams bombard silicon crystals. The core of the theory is the two mechanisms of ion energy loss: nuclear stopping and electronic stopping.
Huang solved the transport equation to give the depth distribution of ions in materials, considering such distribution approximate to a Gauss distribution.
Oh my god! He even tried to precisely calculate the average penetration depth and distribution variance of ions based on ion type and energy.”
Falter’s finger slid across the paper, pointing to a Gauss distribution curve,
“Look here; they showed the depth distribution of dopants in silicon crystals and verified the results with Hall effect measurements. The simulation matches the experimental data highly.
Limited by experimental equipment, their experiments were relatively crude, and the final ion implantation effect wasn’t good enough.
But although their experimental results weren’t good, they matched the computational simulation results very well!
Worthy of Huang; his attainments in theoretical physics are at a master level.”
Hermann asked: “Professor Falter, is it possible that the Chinese forged the experimental data?”
Falter shook his head: “No need, because we can reproduce the experiments.
The experimental results they used for simulation were with basic equipment, not secondary ion mass spectrometry technology.
Anyway, if quick, we can simulate a result in a few days and see if it matches China’s model results.
If verification succeeds, it can prove that China indeed has its own set in theoretical foundation, model construction, and simulation computation.”
Hermann asked: “So, Professor Falter, your meaning is that we should cooperate with China?”
Falter nodded: “Of course.”
East Germany’s Dresden will slowly grow in the future into the microelectronics and semiconductor industry center of the entire Soviet camp.
By the end of the 1980s, it had over 40,000 employees.
Among them, the largest enterprise was ZMDI, which produced DRAM, that is, storage chips.
East Germany’s ZMD U61000, 1Mb storage capacity, CMOS process, the most advanced memory chip produced by East Germany at the end of the Cold War.
What level—roughly equivalent to Hitachi and NEC in 1984.
Not strong, but absolutely not weak.
And now, benefiting from the OGAS plan, East Germany has already invested resources into the semiconductor field ahead of time.
If not for this reason, they wouldn’t have sent Weiss and Müller to China just to confirm the level of China’s technology.
Because without unprecedented emphasis on semiconductors, China really doesn’t rank in the industrial landscape of the Soviet camp.
China holds part of the scripture interpretation authority, as well as agriculture and military; its positioning is not as an industrial country, and the Soviet Union at this time does not want China to become an industrial country.
If China reaches the same level as East Germany in industrial technology, the Soviet Union would probably be sleepless.
Moments later, Falter continued: “Chinese colleagues drew ion depth distribution curves and showed high consistency between their theory and experiments.
I think we should push for cooperation.”
After hearing this, Hermann nodded: “I will push for this matter, but don’t have too high expectations.
After all, among the technologies Chinese colleagues want to cooperate on, ion implantation-related equipment is still too sensitive, as you know.”
Everyone in the room looked at each other.
Everyone was intellectuals; reading the newspaper was a daily routine.
They naturally knew that China was developing the atomic bomb at this time.
And ion implantation-related technology includes a lot of ion-related equipment; maybe unrelated to nuclear weapons, but who can guarantee China won’t apply it to nuclear weapons research?
“Professor, you mean nuclear weapons research?”
“Exactly.”
Falter argued: “The precision equipment needed for ion implantation has nothing to do with nuclear weapons.
The goal of nuclear weapons research is to achieve nuclear fission or fusion reactions, involving extremely high energy and large-scale facilities, while ion implantation focuses on microscopic-scale semiconductor doping, with significant differences in energy demand and equipment scale!
They are not the same thing at all.”
As the head of East Germany’s semiconductors, Falter was very eager to push for cooperation with China, as he saw the dawn of rapid development for East Germany’s semiconductors.
Hermann raised his hand downward, signaling Falter to calm down: “I know, of course I know.
But the problem is, we have to convince the bureaucrats in the Mitte district, who then have to convince the bureaucrats in the Kremlin that our cooperation with China is in the semiconductor field, purely technical, and unrelated to nuclear weapons.
The problem is, even semiconductor technology can be used in missile control systems.
These are all obstacles to our cooperation with China!”
East Berlin’s Ministry of Science and Technology building
On one side of the table sat Hermann; opposite was Friedrich Schmidt, the senior official responsible for international scientific cooperation, his expression as calm as ever.
Friedrich looked at the report and said in a low voice: “Unbelievable. China’s semiconductor physics research has reached such a height; their theory can actually achieve this level.” His tone carried a hint of admiration.
Hermann crossed his hands and said gravely: “Indeed impressive, Comrade Friedrich.”
Friedrich cautioned: “But we must be careful. Semiconductor technology is not just about science. One wrong decision could bring unbearable consequences.”
Hermann nodded: “You’re right. Their technology is admirable, but the potential for military applications cannot be ignored. If we get involved too deeply, we might expose our weaknesses. However, I think there is an opportunity here; we can choose a limited field for cooperation, such as optics.”
“Optics?” Friedrich raised an eyebrow, a glint of thought in his eyes. “Go on.”
Hermann leaned forward, his tone firm: “The optics field can fully utilize their high-precision simulation technology without touching sensitive parts related to semiconductor cores and nuclear weapons.
We can propose joint development of optical instruments. This allows us to learn their methods while keeping the cooperation within safe boundaries.
Plus, semiconductors involve many optics-related areas; we have unique advantages in optics, and Chinese people will surely be satisfied with this.”
Friedrich’s mouth curved slightly upward in a rare smile: “Smart. This is a feasible compromise. Optics has strategic value but won’t directly threaten the Kremlin’s security bottom line.”
The two exchanged a glance, understanding each other.
Friedrich picked up a pen, his fingers quickly writing notes on the paper: “We need to draft a proposal to submit to superiors. Limit cooperation to optics, clearly define boundaries. Emphasize mutual benefits.”
His mind was already calculating the political implications. This could draw closer ties with China while elevating East Germany’s technology without angering allies, he thought to himself.
“The proposal should highlight non-military uses,” Friedrich murmured, his voice low but firm, “avoid any misunderstandings.”
“Of course. Position it as pure scientific cooperation for the common progress of both countries’ technology.”
This could be considered half-achieving the goal for China.
Photolithography technology originated in the 1950s, initially used to manufacture transistors and simple semiconductor devices. In 1957, Texas Instruments began applying photolithography technology to silicon wafers, replacing inefficient manual masks and chemical etching methods.
But at this time, China had no commercial lithography machines and could only rely on simple experimental exposure equipment.
Photoresist, etching solution, and mask materials—they had production capacity for these, could make them; it was just a matter of how good they were.
But exposure light sources and optical lenses—China had no way to obtain them at all.
Therefore, when East Germany limited the cooperation field to optics, led by the renowned Zeiss, Huang Kun and Dean Qian reported:
“East Germany has indeed taken the bait.”
