Chapter 1345

Lin Benjian, known to later generations as the father of immersion lithography, led a team to develop immersion lithography technology, breaking through the semiconductor miniaturization barrier at 65 nanometers and helping TSMC become an industry leader.

He is a devout Christian, kind to others, and always speaks in a slow, gentle tone; he is very polite, completely subverting people's consistent impression of scientific researchers.

When he met Zhou Andong, he was very happy; although this was the second time the two had met, it was as if they were old friends who hadn't seen each other for a long time.

"I have wanted to see you ever since I arrived here, but every time I was told that you hadn't returned yet."

"Professor Lin, I am truly sorry." Zhou Andong said apologetically: "You were able to come to the mainland to work in this small city in the Northeast; I should have welcomed you, but I was out of town at the time, so I missed it."

"No need to be so polite." Lin Benjian waved his hand with a smile: "Coming to work on the mainland was not in my life plan. Whether or not to give up 30 years of life in the United States made me struggle for a time. But as a Christian, I finally followed God's will and came to the mainland."

As early as a few years ago, Lin Benjian had the idea of immersion lithography, but this idea was too crazy.

There is no person or enterprise that would give up the paved road and insist on investing huge amounts of capital to open up a new path.

What's more, whether this newly opened path can be walked is still an unknown; by then, not only would the money be wasted, but time would also be delayed.

Then, when looking up, those who once walked on the flat road together have already run so far that their shadows cannot be seen; they cannot catch up even if they want to, and it is too late to regret.

It was just that Lin Benjian did not expect that one day, a Chinese tycoon named Zhou Andong would find him and talk about immersion lithography technology, and the two people's ideas were surprisingly consistent.

After Zhou Andong left, Lin Benjian began to struggle with whether or not to give up his 30 years of life in the United States to work on the poor and backward mainland.

At the same time, he was also very confused in his heart: how did Zhou Andong find him, and how did he know that he had ideas about immersion lithography technology?

Then he gave his own explanation: Zhou Andong must have been sent by God to find him; this is God's will.

Therefore, all the coincidences, in his view, were destined by heaven in the dark, and then he decided to accept Zhou Andong's invitation.

Zhou Andong said: "Professor Lin, in the future, you will definitely feel glad for the decision you made today."

Lin Benjian laughed; in fact, he is very glad now. Although the living environment here is a bit poor, Zhou Andong gave him the greatest autonomy and financial support, which is a treatment he could not have anywhere else.

Zhou Andong continued to ask: "Are you and your team used to the food and housing here?"

"Very good!" Lin Benjian said: "Because there are no suitable houses now, Chairman Wu arranged for me and the team to stay at the municipal guesthouse. We eat breakfast at the guesthouse restaurant, and for lunch and dinner, Chairman Wu specially hired a Western cuisine chef for us."

Speaking of this, Lin Benjian laughed: "But for the past two months, Nathan and the others have fallen in love with Chinese food and completely abandoned ham burgers."

Zhou Andong laughed loudly: "This is the charm of our Chinese culture of thousands of years, which can be reflected in all aspects, including humanities, geography, history, and diet."

Lin Benjian nodded in agreement: "Although I have lived in the United States for thirty years and am a devout Christian, I still like to eat Chinese food."

After finishing, Lin Benjian shouted: "Nathan, Alex, Ryan, Logan..."

Hearing Lin Benjian's shout, seven R&D personnel wearing anti-static suits and masks, whose true faces could not be seen, walked over.

"Lin, what's the matter?" The person speaking was a fat man; his Chinese sounded a bit awkward, but it was completely understandable.

"This is our boss, Mr. Zhou Andong." Lin Benjian introduced: "Boss, this is Nathan, Alex, Ryan, Logan..., they come from Carl Zeiss and Cymer respectively."

Being able to be poached by Lin Benjian, they must all be elites in their respective fields, so Zhou Andong greeted them very politely.

Zhou Andong could see that these foreigners respected Lin Benjian very much, and he felt a burst of emotion in his heart.

The R&D team led by Lin Benjian was able to expand from more than 50 people to more than 700 people, becoming the world's leading lithography technology R&D department.

In addition to his proud achievements in the field of lithography, another key is that he follows the workplace management rules of mutual respect, mutual assistance, and mutual trust.

He once said that the way parents and children get along is actually applicable to workplace management.

Parents hope their children will become dragons, accustomed to picking on their children's faults, but ignoring the importance of encouragement.

The workplace has the same situation; supervisors often forget to encourage employees, which is undesirable.

Watching the few foreigners return to their posts, Zhou Andong asked: "Are there any difficulties now?"

"There are definitely difficulties." Lin Benjian shook his head: "Mainly some advanced instruments and equipment; although you gave me financial support, some instruments and equipment are not so easy to buy."

Zhou Andong frowned: "Give me a list of instruments and equipment, and I will think of a way."

"Good!" Lin Benjian nodded: "I have also found many connections; some instruments and equipment are already on the sea, but they are much more expensive than the normal price."

"It doesn't matter." Zhou Andong said: "As long as it can be transported safely, no matter how much money it costs, it is worth it."

Lin Benjian hesitated for a moment, but still said: "Immersion lithography technology is very difficult; this is definitely not something that can be successful in two or three years. It may be five or even ten years, and the manpower and financial resources consumed will be very huge."

"I can only say that money is not a problem." Zhou Andong smiled slightly: "As for time, it is even less of a problem. If five years won't work, then ten years; if ten years won't work, then twenty years. If it still won't work, then we don't need to persist anymore."

A smile appeared on Lin Benjian's face; Zhou Andong's words could be considered a reassurance for him.

He was afraid that if the time was long, Zhou Andong would run out of patience and cancel the project, and his hard work would be in vain.

Zhou Andong chatted with Lin Benjian for a while, and then Li Hongyan introduced Zhou Andong to several big shots in the domestic lithography machine field.

Zhou Andong respected these old scientists who had selflessly dedicated almost their whole lives to the country and the people even more.

And these old men were also grateful to Zhou Andong. The lithography machine was the condensation of their life's hard work.

But suddenly, the policy changed, and one project after another was overturned and shelved; they ran around and shouted.

They looked for factory leaders, research institute leaders, and even ran to the province and the ministry to talk to those leaders.

The lithography machine is the flower of the modern optical industry and the core technology in the semiconductor industry.

We want to develop the semiconductor industry, and lithography machine technology must be mastered in our own hands.

The idea that building is not as good as buying, and buying is not as good as renting is nonsense and cannot be believed.

At first, the leaders' attitude was very good, but later they couldn't even see anyone.

One year, two years, they were also exhausted, and finally gave up in despair.

But what they never expected was their old friend.

Chen Guofeng of the Jiangzhou Electronics Factory Research Institute found them and invited them to work in Jiangzhou.

Yugong Group Chairman Zhou Andong acquired the Jiangzhou Electronics Factory Research Institute and invested huge sums of money to start the R&D of lithography machines.

This gave them another chance to walk into the research room and stand on the stage of scientific research, so they would not take regrets into the coffin.