Rebirth of Northland Technology

March 1992

Xinhua News Agency broadcasts the full text of "Protecting Reform and Opening Up"

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Full color meeting room

The people who came to the meeting today are particularly full, because the company has reached a new node.

In the center of the conference table, there are several 10.4-inch TFT-LCD samples.These samples were run out using production line equipment.The LCD production line finally ran through once.

Of course, this running through does not mean that it can be put into production immediately.Because there are still product quality problems and yield problems.But the rest is relatively easy to handle, let's take your time slowly.

"Did you send the sample to Sister Luo?"

"Sent, their circuit boards are almost ready. It is estimated that the finished product will be sent back in two days."

Everyone in the conference room is looking forward to the first LCD product that can display patterns.

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The focus of the meeting is always the issue of yield.

After the ODF process is introduced, it stands to reason that the yield of TFT-LCD should not be a problem.The rest are very common semiconductor processing steps.

Although Optoelectronics does not have wafer production experience, LED production experience is not small.But the actual situation is not the case. The size of the LCD is really too big.

"Xiaocheng, is your five-shot lithography technology mature?"

Wang Qingshan is the technical person in charge of production line debugging. From now on, the problem of yield and yield is mainly his business.

"what happened?"

"The lack of product yield is also related to the excessive number of current TFT processing procedures."

The TFT processing technology is not fundamentally different from the wafer.Every time the photolithography, film formation, cleaning, photoresist coating, exposure, development, drying, etching, photoresist removal, and inspection must be carried out.

The current TFT processing technology uses a seven-pass photolithography process.That is, the substrate needs to be processed seven times through photolithography.

In the processing of wafer chips, dozens of photolithography are the least.This is why it is difficult to improve the yield of the fab.The more steps, the lower the total yield.

"Xiaocheng, if you have good skills, take it out quickly."

Bai Xuecheng also joined the battle group to persuade.

"Ok."

Cheng Yongxing hesitated, but still compromised.He intends to retain this technology for the next generation.In history, the five-step photolithography method will only appear in a few years.

The meeting quickly turned to other topics.

For example, the inspection of domestic raw materials.But these do not affect the main progress.

Yes, yes, no, it is not worthy of everyone's attention.

From the perspective of the employees of Quancai, these are all suppliers. Whose ones are not used?Using domestically produced raw materials, on the contrary, causes trouble for everyone.

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After the meeting, Bai Xuecheng, Cheng Yongxing and Wang Qingshan went to sit in the small meeting room.

With the full adjustment of the production line, everyone's mood slowly relaxes.

Liu Minxue eventually took over as the general manager of "Photoelectric Equipment", but he didn't come to Bingcheng very much, so his general manager was just a name.

Fortunately, several subordinate equipment factories can work independently. It does not matter whether there is a superior unit.

Bingcheng’s optoelectronic equipment headquarters has rebuilt an independent management team. Zhou Qiang and a group of people have been transferred from other fraternal units.

"Our display base plan has not been approved yet."

"I know this."

"Why are you not in a hurry?"

Bai Xuecheng's attitude towards Cheng Yongxing was a bit strange.

"Is it useful?"

"haha, yes!"

Urgency is useless.However, Bai Xuecheng still noticed something unusual about Cheng Yongxing.

This young man is very impatient about many things.For example, the full-line adjustment of the production line.But some things are strangely calm.

"However, a friend asked someone to bring us a message. He hoped that we could set up the official line to Shanghai. If possible, he would help us promote the approval of the project."

With the passage of time, the second plant of Optoelectronics has also entered the acceptance stage.

Almost everyone believes that this plant was prepared for the official line.

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"No need. Isn't it nice now?"

With the point of view of later generations, Cheng Yongxing disapproved of this kind of project approval.

You give it to me, justifiably, if you don't approve, can you stop me from spending money?

Big deal, I don’t even need a loan.And with the appearance of the first LCD sample, Cheng Yongxing has some different ideas about how to make money.People in later generations can cheat money with a PPT!

"Yes, this official line cannot be built with our own funds anyway."

Bai Xuecheng, like most people, does not see the possibility of using his own funds to build a full-load production line.

As the general manager of Quancai, looking for money has become an instinct for him.

LED large screens are indeed very profitable, but if you only rely on self-profit rollover, it will take 50 months to save enough investment for a formal production line.

"My friends said that if this line can be put in Shanghai, they can be responsible for 70% of the supporting funds. They can also provide various tax incentives, and the conditions are very good."

For full color, where the production line is located, there is little difference.Many employees of Optoelectronics are from Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Later generations, Jingdongfang, built production lines across the country, even in Inner Mongolia, wherever you have the money, you can build it!

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"The official line has no plans to build it yet. In two days, I am going to put on another pilot line."

"Still on the pilot line? What is the purpose of this test line?"

"This time I plan to increase the size and resolution of the LCD."

Size and resolution are a good excuse, but they do need it.As time goes by, the first LCD boom cycle will come to everyone in a few months.

Being prepared for danger in times of peace, with the advent of the rising wave, the falling wave will follow.How to survive the cold winter is something that must be considered.

"Is the equipment requirements the same this time?"

"It's not the same. This time, manufacturers are required to prepare 5 micron accuracy!"

With the adoption and promotion of new technologies, Cheng Yongxing's strategy has always been to run in small steps and boil frogs in warm water.

The first time I went to 10 microns, it was because everyone had no experience, and he didn't want to put a fearless burden on equipment manufacturers.

But after passing the first level, it would be wrong to continue to indulge.

How can money be so easy to earn?

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History has changed a big curve here. The generational name of the LCD production line is based on the full-color naming rule.

In order to distinguish the production lines of different generations, the production line that has been built is called the first generation.

This generation of products is the first attempt of Optoelectronics in the LCD field.Its main feature is that the product size is small, the largest is only 12 inches, and the resolution is relatively low, only 640x480.

And the ones that will be developed soon are naturally called the second generation.

The size of the second generation has been enlarged to 15 inches, and the maximum resolution has been increased to 1024x768.Its main target is the workstation monitor market at this time.

"In this case, it will be much more difficult. I am afraid that equipment manufacturers will have a lot of economic pressure."

The first-generation equipment was considered a trial and sample, and everyone showed great enthusiasm to participate.From a certain point of view, in order to seize the market, it is to lose money.

The first-generation products have not yet seen the benefits, so they began to develop the second-generation products. The R&D costs alone cannot afford them.

"It doesn't matter, the second-generation line is not started now, just to greet the manufacturers in advance. As for the first-generation line, I plan to build a few more. Just let them be ready to make money."

"How many? Pilot lines? Why are there so many pilot lines? Where does the money come from?"