Chapter 232: Lithography Breakthrough: Extreme Ultraviolet Light Source Emerges

Zhao Jianguo pushed open the Laboratory door and casually hung the anti‑surveillance Coat on the wall corner. The gray fabric garment had just been taken off, and the interference meter on his wrist was also removed, making a light clatter when he placed it into a drawer. He didn't look back, walking straight toward the Main Control Console.

Jia Dongxu was leaning over the Screen, his eyes fixed on the Waveform Diagram without moving. His fingers tapped the keyboard once, then again, as if afraid of disturbing something. On the Control Console sat three empty cups, coffee stains dried at the rims, forming circles.

"Try again." Jia Dongxu said, "This time lower the input voltage."

Zhao Jianguo nodded, saying nothing. He sat down, his fingers resting on the operation panel. The earlier confrontation had drained a lot of energy, but he could not afford to rest now. The blueprint was secured, and the next steps could not afford any mistake.

The system interface popped up, a small red dot flashing in the lower right corner. He clicked into it; he hadn't signed in today. The page refreshed, displaying a line of text: 【Light Source Stabilization Technique (single‑use)】.

He looked for two seconds, then clicked Enable directly.

In an instant, the ceiling lit up with a layer of pale blue light, neither glaring nor hot, descending slowly like water. The entire Laboratory was enveloped. The instruments' sound changed; the previously intermittent buzzing became steady, and the curve on the Screen turned from erratic jumps into a straight line.

"Stable?" Jia Dongxu snapped his head up.

Zhao Jianguo stared at the main frequency data, "Output power constant, fluctuation less than 0.3%."

As soon as the words fell, an engineer beside him twitched his hand, the coffee cup fell onto the Control Console, liquid streaming down the edge. He stared blankly for a few seconds, then burst out laughing: "Really stable! This time it's truly stable!"

Another person rushed over to check the log, muttering parameters, stopped when he turned to page three, and shouted loudly: "Twelve minutes of continuous operation with no alarms! We didn't trigger the protection mechanism!"

The Laboratory suddenly became lively. Someone slapped the desk, others high‑fived each other, and someone else stood up and shouted: "It's done! This time it's really done!"

Jia Dongxu grabbed Zhao Jianguo's arm, his voice trembling slightly: "What did you just… use?"

"It's from the system," Zhao Jianguo pointed to the glowing device atop his head, "the one we just signed in for, called 'Light Source Stabilization Technique'."

"Incredible," Jia Dongxu shook his head, "In the past three days we tried seven schemes, even dismantled and reassembled the resonant cavity, yet we couldn't suppress the jitter. You turned the light on now, and everything settled."

Zhao Jianguo smiled, "Perhaps the timing is right."

He turned his head toward the core chamber. The extreme ultraviolet light source equipment was running quietly, its laser beam passing through a vacuum tube, striking the test target and leaving a tiny light spot. That spot was sufficient to etch circuitry onto a Crystal.

At that moment the system prompt sounded: 【Core technology completeness reached 80%, unlocking Future Technology Preview function】.

A new interface automatically popped up, a timeline on the left and a string of blurry icons on the right, as if shrouded in mist. Zhao Jianguo clicked one, seeing only a few words: "Biological Synthesis Module – Preliminary Configuration."

He didn't continue looking and closed the window.

"What's the next step?" Jia Dongxu asked.

"First integrate the light source into the lithography machine prototype," Zhao Jianguo said, "Test the exposure precision; if we can reach below five nanometers, we can prepare a mass‑production plan."

"Can the materials side keep up?"

"I've already had He Yushui adjust the APP scheduling, prioritizing supply of high‑purity gases and special lenses. Siheyuan can also support part of the processing capacity."

Jia Dongxu rubbed his face, "It's only been a few months, we started from zero, and now we actually managed to produce EUV."

"It's not just us," Zhao Jianguo said, "It's everyone pushing together. Without the cafeteria's profit‑sharing funds to buy parts, without Wang Nainai delivering Meal Tickets to the Laboratory door every day, this would have stalled long ago."

Just then, a rushing sound came from outside. The two looked up at the window; raindrops had begun to hammer down, striking the glass with a thud. The sky darkened quickly, a flash of lightning streaked across, illuminating the camera on the opposite roof.

"The first summer rain of 1985," Jia Dongxu leaned against the chair, "Arrives just in time."

Zhao Jianguo stood up, walked to the Recorder and pressed the save button. The first batch of stable data had been stored on the local server, and the backup synchronized to the underground machine room.

"Notify all positions, overtime tonight," he said, "By 8 a. m. tomorrow I want to see the initial draft of the integration plan."

"Aren't you taking a break?" Jia Dongxu looked at him.

"We'll talk after the work is done."

The engineers returned to their stations. Someone wiped the coffee off the Control Console, another rebooted the log program, and someone else ran into the debugging room with a notebook. Lights flickered on one by one, and the whole building resembled a lit box.

Zhao Jianguo stood before the Main Control Console, his fingers sliding across the Screen. He brought up the 'Future Technology Preview' function and clicked the blurry icon again. This time the display added a line of small text: 【Suggested integration into agricultural experiment scenarios】.

He furrowed his brow briefly.

"What did you say?" Jia Dongxu asked him.

"Nothing." Zhao Jianguo closed the interface, "First deal with what's in front of us."

The rain intensified, water streaming down the eaves in lines. No one in the Laboratory mentioned the earlier excitement; everyone kept their heads down working. Only the printer occasionally spat out a sheet, which someone promptly retrieved.

Zhao Jianguo opened the communication module and sent He Yushui a message: 【Prepare to switch resource priority; lithography project entering final sprint】.

The reply popped up quickly: 【Received. Tsinghua team just sent back a new algorithm that can optimize the exposure path】.

He read it, archived the message, then pulled up the engineering schedule and ticked the box under 'Extreme Ultraviolet Light Source'.

"Dong Xu." he called out.

"Hmm?"

"Should we consider building an independent factory building?"

Jia Dongxu laughed, "You really aren't afraid of a big undertaking."

"It's not that I want to make a fuss." Zhao Jianguo pointed at the Screen, "Look at these numbers; in two weeks our daily energy consumption will exceed the entire Courtyard's regular electricity use. Even Sha Zhu will have to queue for the power switch when cooking."

"That's true." Jia Dongxu scratched his head, "But where would we put it?"

"The abandoned warehouse down south, once cleared, could be usable. The key is it's far from residential areas, safe."

"Alright, I'll go draft the report tomorrow."

As the two were speaking, a voice from the debugging room shouted, "Engineer Zhao! Focus calibration completed! Error within acceptable range!"

Zhao Jianguo responded, walked over to look. The test Screen displayed an enlarged image of the light spot, its edges sharp, with no any blur.

"We can proceed to the next stage," he said.

Jia Dongxu stood behind him, exhaling, "Now that this hurdle is cleared, the next part is a race against speed."

"Right." Zhao Jianguo nodded, "Whoever lays the production line first will seize the initiative."

He turned back to the Main Control Console, picked up a pen and wrote a few lines in his notebook. After writing, he looked up at the time: 1:17 a. m.

Rain still fell outside, and the Laboratory lights remained on.

Zhao Jianguo set the pen down, reached for the water cup. The cup was empty; he didn't pour water, just held it.

He stared at the scrolling Data Stream on the Screen, his fingers lightly tapping the desk twice.

The printer's motor whirred, a new test report was being printed.