Chapter 1591 New Material Synthesis Method

Looking at Chang Haonan who seemed hesitant, Xiong Huaijiang spoke tentatively:

"Boss Chang, this matter involves a lot of implications. Do we need to submit it to the group's party committee for discussion?"

The latter has worked in government agencies for many years and knows very well that many leaders need people below them to give them a way out when they are faced with matters that they cannot decide on.

But Chang Haonan is definitely an exception.

"No need." He waved his hand, his tone firm, "This is just a preliminary contact intention, it has not yet reached the decision-making level. My authority is sufficient to cover it. You can just write a summary and submit it afterwards."

In fact, Chang Haonan is mainly organizing language.

Because there are so many things I want to say.

After a moment, he finally gave the order:

"In principle, it is agreed that Gaofa Group and Rolls-Royce will have preliminary contacts and technical discussions on the Zumwalt improvement project."

Xiong Huaijiang immediately took out the notebook he carried with him and prepared to record the key points.

"However," Chang Haonan emphasized, "for any substantial progress, especially those involving our technical input or commitment, Gaofa must report in detail to the group headquarters in advance and wait for clear approval."

"I understand." Xiong Huaijiang's pen tip slid quickly across the paper.

"In addition," Chang Haonan added, "for many reasons, it is inconvenient for our technical personnel to appear directly in the United States, so as in the past, all joint design work must be carried out through the Xiluo company platform."

"In addition, all information, drawings, and data generated during the design process must be fully backed up on the internal server of Xiluo Company. This is a hard requirement..."

"..."

It took almost a quarter of an hour to finish listing more than a dozen requests.

"Yes, Mr. Chang." Xiong Huaijiang quickly wrote it down, "I'll reply right away."

"One more thing," Chang Haonan suddenly stopped Xiong Huaijiang when he was about to leave, "Notify the department in charge of the negotiations with the EU at Gaofa to temporarily suspend the transfer of all technical information and production authorization of the condensate control module to Rolls-Royce on the grounds that 'there are currently technical obstacles and procedural delays in the mutual recognition of airworthiness negotiations'."

The latter turned around again and opened the notebook: "But...what if the negotiations make progress?"

Today, the scope of negotiations between China and the EU has far exceeded the initial aviation cooperation, and the progress is no longer something that the Aviation Power Group can fully control.

Chang Haonan pondered for a moment and said, "The bottom line is that within five years, the core production and manufacturing links of MCM must be completed domestically."

Seeing the flash of doubt in the other party's eyes, he further explained:

"We can let Rolls-Royce build a production line in China to produce key components or complete the integration of core modules, and then deliver them to the UK for final assembly. In this way, the final product will be branded with Rolls-Royce and legally it will be a pure British product without any commercial risk."

"I see!" Xiong Huaijiang suddenly realized, "This will not affect the supply from the British side."

He quickly wrote down this last crucial point and said, "I'll convey and implement it right away."

After watching Xiong Huaijiang leave the office, Chang Haonan turned his gaze back to the computer screen.

That report on a new type of high-temperature resistant metal surface coating is still stuck there.

The content points out that the material has excellent performance, but is limited by the current mainstream physical vapor deposition process and has extremely low synthesis efficiency.

"Only 5-6 rounds of complete testing can be completed every month..." Chang Haonan muttered to himself, frowning slightly.

To this day, materials science still relies mainly on trial and error.

At this efficiency, when will we be able to get effective results?

At this moment, the encrypted phone on the table suddenly rang.

Judging from the extension number, it is the Torch Laboratory’s dedicated line.

Chang Haonan picked up the phone: "I'm Chang Haonan."

"Teacher, it's me, Li Yabo." Li Yabo's voice came from the other end of the phone. "I have completed the theoretical modeling and process parameter setting of the epitaxial growth method, and am currently conducting the first round of synthesis tests in the process laboratory. Do you think...when is it convenient for you to come over and take a look?"

Chang Haonan looked at his schedule and found that there was a gap in the afternoon.

"Around four in the afternoon... Please arrange it as soon as possible so that I can see the preliminary results of the first batch of samples when I go there."

……

That day, in the evening.

When Chang Haonan walked into the high-purity material synthesis laboratory where Li Yabo was working, there was still a faint smell of vacuum pump oil and the special smell of high-temperature sintering in the air.

Li Yabo was sitting at his workstation, resting while waiting for the analysis report to be delivered.

Seeing Chang Haonan coming in, he immediately stood up:

"Teacher, you are here! The samples have just been sent for characterization and the report is still being generated."

"The progress is good." Chang Haonan nodded and praised.

There is absolutely no problem with the molecular beam epitaxy technology route.

But if you want to produce results in just a few months, you must put a lot of effort into it.

"It's a shortcut," Li Yabo replied modestly. "The semiconductor production field has accumulated experience in promoting molecular beam epitaxy, especially for III-V semiconductor crystals, such as boron nitride. The process is now relatively mature and has even begun to replace traditional deposition methods..."

Chang Haonan walked to the laboratory computer and looked at the process flow chart on it:

"Inspiration is inspiration, but the environmental requirements and physical mechanisms of epitaxial growth of semiconductor materials and epitaxial growth of metal single atomic layers are very different... You certainly didn't copy it."

Speaking of this, he suddenly felt a little emotional.

Similar conversations had taken place countless times between him and Du Yishan in the past.

But now the identities have been reversed.

"That's right." Li Yabo nodded, walked to the computer, and skillfully opened a molecular dynamics engineering file. "So I made key adjustments to the interface bonding mechanism between the substrate and the growth material... Mainly, I abandoned the traditional strong chemical bond connection and chose van der Waals force as the main interlayer interaction force."

He pointed to the magnified model of the atomic structure on the screen:

"You see, this cadmium-based Cd(0001) substrate is a strictly two-dimensional material with no dangling bonds on the surface. That is, it is not constrained by the lattice constants having to be strictly matched."

On the screen, the atomic arrangement of the Cd (0001) crystal plane is clearly visible, and the surface is smooth and flat.

Li Yabo continued to explain, "So, you can stack materials with different properties like building blocks, and eventually form a stable structure similar to a knot, while each layer still maintains its own properties."

Chang Haonan was checking the calculation process in the engineering file at this time, but he quickly understood the other party's thinking:

"Strong chemical bonds within the layers ensure the intrinsic properties of the material, and weaker van der Waals forces between the layers ensure the flexibility and separability of the stacking... Are you planning to use mechanical exfoliation or liquid phase exfoliation to separate the single-layer material in the future?"

"That's right!" Li Yabo smiled when he saw that the teacher fully understood. "And this van der Waals knot has a very high degree of design freedom. In theory, we can develop countless combinations and apply them to a variety of two-dimensional materials."

Just then, the door of the laboratory was pushed open.

An assistant researcher handed over the test report that had just been printed out.

Chang Haonan took the report and Li Yabo also came forward.

You don’t even have to turn the page.

On the first page is the report summary:

The target material gallium-germanium alloy (Ga-Ge (0001)) was successfully formed on a Cd (0001) substrate.

The film exhibits a non-planar two-dimensional morphology. The film region has obvious 1x1 pseudocrystalline structural characteristics.

Energy spectrum analysis shows strong metallic characteristics. At the same time, it is detected that there is a certain amount of stress inside the film, and it is recommended to eliminate it through subsequent annealing process optimization.

The x MTA-01 device detected about 15%-25% three-dimensional nanoclusters on the substrate surface. Fortunately, these clusters are unevenly distributed and mainly concentrated in specific areas. In theory, they can be effectively separated through subsequent fine cutting.

"The overall results are quite positive." Chang Haonan looked at the report and could not hide his praise. "It is a pleasant surprise that we can achieve this effect on the first attempt."

At the same time, he also felt somewhat relieved——

Finally, my students can pose a threat to me in the academic world rather than in the education world.

Li Yabo stared at the data on nanoclusters in the report, frowning: "Teacher, when I was simulating the calculation, I deliberately increased the ambient temperature parameters of the reaction chamber in order to suppress the growth of this three-dimensional island. Theoretically, there shouldn't be such a large proportion..."

Upon hearing this, Chang Haonan immediately sat back in front of the main control computer and called up the process parameters and underlying algorithm model set by Li Yabo.

He just happened to see the part about internal energy:

"Yabo, you are still a little affected by the technology over there in semiconductors."

Li Yabo showed a puzzled expression.

"The boron nitride process you referenced uses pyrolytic graphite as the substrate, so the high temperature environment helps to improve the mobility of surface adsorbed atoms, while suppressing nucleation behavior and promoting two-dimensional expansion."

Chang Haonan pointed at the parameters and explained:

"But our current substrate is Cd (0001), which requires low temperature conditions to form a high-quality smooth film."

"!!!"

Li Yabo suddenly realized something, with a look of regret and relief on his face: "I understand... At that time, I was only thinking about suppressing the aggregation of adsorbed atoms, and forgot about the properties of the substrate itself..."

As he spoke, he sat down in front of the computer and began to modify the calculation parameters.

"The flaws do not outweigh the merits." Chang Haonan gave an encouraging evaluation, "This experiment has made a breakthrough, proving the great potential of van der Waals epitaxy in the preparation of metallic two-dimensional materials... The next step is to study how to stack Ga-Ge (0001) in multiple layers to achieve negative refractive transparent materials on a macro scale."

He stood up:

"I will personally take charge of this work."

When Chang Haonan left the synthesis laboratory, he found that it was already night outside the window.

He originally planned to go home directly, but on second thought, he felt that it would be better to strike while the iron was hot and start the next stage of work.

Then, a strong motivation drove him to change direction and walk towards the elevator.

But at the moment the elevator door opened, the high-temperature resistant coating report from the morning suddenly flashed in Chang Haonan’s mind!