Chapter 1651: Cornerstone and Vision

Although everyone was immersed in a joyful atmosphere, the production area was clearly not the place for wild celebrations.

Therefore, everyone's attention quickly returned to the production line in front of them.

At this time, the huge ArF1800 lithography machine has stopped working, and the priceless precision optical systems inside have also fallen silent.

Without any instructions, the technicians in clean white dust-free suits started moving again like precise gears and quickly got involved in the finishing process.

A group of people moved skillfully and began to cut off the power supply to each area. At the same time, they held special light-shielding films and dedicated protective covers and carefully protected each key part - the high numerical aperture objective lens group, the laser light source outlet, the precision alignment system window... one by one.

Another group of people came to the operating terminal to prepare to export and check the operating data.

Wu Minghan stood aside, his eyes still slightly red, his chest still heaving.

He opened his mouth, as if wanting to conclude a few words, but the mixture of excitement and relief made it difficult for him to form smooth sentences.

Huang Wei, the head of the base, immediately stepped forward and took over the explanation: "Leaders, the equipment is currently in a strict trial production verification stage. The first batch of orders given to us by Party A is also relatively conservative, mainly used for market testing and user feedback collection, not full-load operation tasks."

He turned around and glanced at the engineers who were exporting data from the operating terminals:

"So we adopted an intermittent production strategy. After completing each batch of lithography work, we stopped the machine for comprehensive data analysis and equipment status inspection... In this way, even if we find any slight deviations or potential problems, we can correct and compensate for them in time to minimize the scope of impact."

Huaxin International is of course a profit-making enterprise.

But with the support of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), we can be less concerned about the gains and losses in the short term.

Chang Haonan listened attentively, his eyes moving slowly between the sleeping lithography machine and the busy technicians.

"Your arrangement is very safe." After hearing the other party's explanation, he nodded slightly: "Although we have achieved a breakthrough from scratch in the 7nm process and have taken a key step, we are still a latecomer in this field of chip manufacturing that represents the highest level in the world."

"International giants, potential customers, and even competitors... countless eyes are watching us. So, more important than pursuing production volume now is ensuring the performance and yield of every chip that leaves the factory. Only by providing stable, reliable, and proven products can we truly win the long-term trust of the client, the Chrysanthemum Factory, and the confidence of end consumers, laying the foundation for subsequent capacity expansion."

When the time comes to support domestic products, of course we have to do it even under unfavorable conditions.

But now that the conditions are in place, it would be best to smoothly transition the foundry from TSMC to Huaxin International.

Luan Wenjie also showed an understanding smile on his face, and continued in a half-joking tone: "Academician Chang has a lot of experience in developing...new markets, and all of them are successful experiences, so...it's right to listen to him."

The people who accompanied the tour were all veterans who had entered the industry during the Science and Technology Commission period, and they had naturally heard of Chang Haonan's outstanding achievements.

So they all smiled knowingly.

The atmosphere finally returned to its original relaxed state.

"This first step is a steady one." Luan Wenjie turned to Wu Minghan, whose emotions had basically calmed down, and his tone became concerned. "Next, after the ArF1800 is officially put into production, do you have a plan for the market? How is the order reserve?"

Wu Minghan had fully recovered by now and reported confidently:

"We currently have OEM orders with clear intentions and are going through technical evaluation and business processes, with 6 models confirmed!"

He counted on his fingers, listing them like the back of his hand:

"Four of them come from our strategic partner, Hisen Semiconductor, including two mobile terminal SOCs - in addition to the one you just saw, there is also a lightweight version without an integrated 4G baseband; the other is an ultra-high-performance MCU (microcontroller) for 5G base stations, and a GPU that is still under design, which is said to be used for parallel computing, but the current information is limited."

Haisen is a leader in semiconductor design, so it is not surprising that it occupies a large share.

Chang Haonan just nodded: "What about the other two models?"

"The other two are from the Academy of Sciences. They are special CPUs tailored for the next generation of E-class supercomputers and have little commercial potential."

Wu Minghan paused, then concluded:

"Although we are still far from being able to compete with giants like TSMC, which has been operating for many years, in terms of total orders, we have more than enough to ensure the healthy and orderly operation of our production lines in the coming months, providing us with valuable time and space to refine our processes and improve yield rates!"

Luan Wenjie was also listening attentively, but when he heard the number "6", his brows frowned slightly, almost imperceptibly.

This number seemed lower than his higher expectations.

Huang Wei, who had been paying attention to his leader's expression, immediately caught this subtle change and quickly took over the conversation, adding:

"Looking at the current state of the global industry, products that truly require 7nm or even more advanced processes are currently concentrated in a few top areas: SoCs for high-end flagship phones, top-tier GPUs/CPUs, and some cutting-edge communication basebands and AI acceleration chips."

"Moreover, there are only a few domestic companies such as Hysen and Feiteng that have such top-level IC design capabilities and can afford the cost of advanced process tape-out. Most design companies' main products are still at 14nm, 22nm or even more mature process nodes. It will take time to cultivate the market and the explosion of demand."

Chang Haonan also chimed in and added:

"This is an ecosystem that requires time and continuous investment to cultivate... In the past, our own foundry production capacity was limited, and TSMC could only allocate a small amount of production capacity to mainland China, so IC designers inevitably had concerns about advancing the process. However, now that the new production line has begun to operate stably, demand will definitely gradually increase in the future."

Luan Wenjie nodded slightly, and the doubts between his brows dissipated.

The highlight of today's visit is naturally the ArF-1800 lithography machine.

But since I'm here, I have to take a look at other places.

Therefore, the delegation, accompanied by Huang Wei and Wu Minghan, continued to visit other core areas of the Haihe Base:

Etching workshop, thin film deposition area, cracking line...

Lunch was arranged in the simple and clean restaurant inside the base.

Just as the meal was coming to an end and everyone was preparing to leave, the internal confidential phone in Wu Minghan's pocket vibrated.

He stood up and walked aside to answer the call. The call was very short.

When he turned around, he couldn't help but smile with surprise and pride on his face.

"Academician Chang, Director Luan, good news!" He walked quickly to Chang Haonan and Luan Wenjie and said, "The batch of wafers we manufactured this morning has completed a series of processes including metal interconnection, passivation deposition, and packaging. Do you want to... go and see the finished product?"

The proposal received an immediate positive response.

The group came to the F-3 production line again, but this time they no longer needed to wear cumbersome dust-free suits. Instead, they went directly to the finished product inspection area separated from the production area by a huge observation window.

Through the bright observation window, one can see technicians in clean suits using high-power magnifying glasses and automated testing equipment to conduct detailed visual inspections and preliminary electrical tests on a small tray of neatly arranged, freshly packaged chips.

Wu Minghan personally took two packaged chip samples through the transfer window and carefully placed them in an anti-static tray.

Chang Haonan took the tray, and the others immediately gathered around, their eyes focused on it.

In the center of a two-centimeter-square black plastic cover, a line of simple and eye-catching white characters was clearly laser-etched:

Kirin 9X 5G