The Millennium Semiconductor Survival Guide.

Chapter 59 ASML in 1999
"How about it, my apprentice." After Zhou Xin thought about listening to other scholars' papers and left, Hu Zhengming raised his eyebrows.

Guan Jianying didn't say much, rubbed his chin and said: "Purely speaking from the paper itself, it is an excellent paper.

This quality can be used as a doctoral dissertation.

Can be in the first year of doctorate, Zhou Xin is now in the first year of doctorate, right? "

"Yes, he only got his bachelor's degree in the middle of last year."

"If you tell me that a first-year PhD student has this level, I will definitely think that he is a genius in the field of integrated circuits.

But he is Zhou Xin, the founder of Riot Games. Compared with his achievements on the Internet, this paper seems a bit ordinary.

Do you understand?Even before listening to the thesis, I had already fully expected him. The quality of the thesis was absolutely top-notch, but compared with his achievements in business, it was a bit lackluster. "

Guan Jianying and Hu Zhengming have known each other for many years, and his words are as straightforward as his appearance.

Hu Zhengming did not expect his old friend to say this, "The problem is that he is in the first year of Ph.D. and has not yet completed academic training.

Being able to optimize the existing MOSFET model from the theoretical level is enough to prove his talent! "

Guan Jianying pressed Hu Zhengming's shoulder, and then said: "I know that his talent is absolutely top-notch, and I didn't deny it.

It's just that his talent in the semiconductor field is not as dazzling as his achievements in Internet entrepreneurship. "

Guan Jianying continued: "Besides, he has made such great achievements in the Internet field, whether he will really have the patience to finish your doctorate in the future is still unknown.

But you have also made money, at least judging from his performance, he still respects you as a mentor.

For us Chinese, the most important thing is the teacher-student relationship. "

From the perspective of Chinese people, a mentor at the doctoral stage is close to the ancient concept of master and apprentice, preaching and teaching karma to solve doubts.

Later generations Hu Zhengming also treated Zhou Xin as his closed disciple.

The relationship between Hu Zhengming and Zhou Xin in this time and space is not as harmonious as that in the future. A large part of the reason is that they do not get along day and night.

Hu Zhengming thought that after Zhou Xin arrived in Berkeley, he did not follow Hu Zhengming's plan at all.

Hu Zhengming just gave him a certain degree of freedom, and Zhou Xin quickly soared into the sky.

When Hu Zhengming found out, it was too late, but fortunately, Zhou Xin showed great respect for him in face, and Zhou Xin was also far better academically than ordinary first-year doctoral students.

When Hu Zhengming looked at Zhou Xin from an objective perspective, he couldn't find any faults, he could only be proud of him.

"That's right, I guess he will still finish his Ph.D. With Zhou Xin's ability, he can do it with only a small amount of energy.

Internet entrepreneurship is actually only difficult at the initial stage. When it is on the right track, there are not so many things to deal with. "

When Hu Zhengming was chatting with Guan Jianying, Zhou Xin wandered around the whole venue. There was not much content in the paper that made him feel bright. After all, he looked at it from the perspective of 20 years later.

But there are many big cows in it, and he is very interested.

After others know who he is, they are willing to talk to him.

After some conversation, I left an impression in front of several big cows who have been active for many years.

The only regret is that my current capital is limited, and I can't offer conditions to attract these talented people.

If the conditions are sufficient now, Zhou Xin can't wait to do it directly.

"Newman, this is the vice president of ASML technology, Mr. Martin van den Brinke, Martin, this is my friend's student, Newman Zhou, he is the founder of Riot Games.

The company that competed with Yahoo in the field of game forums is also very popular in the Europa region. "

Under the recommendation of Klaassen, Zhou Xin finally met his biggest gain from participating in ISSCC this time, Martin van den Brinke.

Compared with the monopoly position of ASML in later generations, ASML is now only one of the players in the field of lithography machines, not even the top player.

At the same time, the importance of the lithography machine has not been exposed.

However, if it weren't for ASML's monopoly position, and at the same time prohibiting the sale of the highest-end lithography machines to China, ASML would not be so famous in China.

And this time, Martin, whom Klaassen introduced him to meet, has worked in ASML since its establishment in 1984, and he became the president and chief technology officer of ASML in 2013.

I would like to mention here that Martin worked for Philips Semiconductors after graduating from university. ASML is a joint venture founded by Philips Semiconductors and ASM International.

Martin went to ASML directly from Philips after ASML was founded.

Until Zhou Xin left, Martin was still the president of ASML.

It means that the other party has been working for ASML all his life.

Klaassen is the vice president of Philips Semiconductors, and Philips Semiconductors has such a relationship with ASML, and Martin has worked for Philips Semiconductors, so it is normal for Klaassen to know Martin.

Zhou Xin sighed instantly after seeing Martin, the world is so small, anyone can know each other at random.

Of course, Hu Zhengming also knows Martin. When ASML achieved a key breakthrough, it was in 2004 that ASML chose to cooperate with TSMC to study the light source with a wavelength of 193nm, and changed the medium of the refraction light source from air to water.

Since then, ASML has completely left Nikon and Canon behind in the field of high-end lithography machines.

The immersion lithography machine using water as the medium has successfully improved the accuracy again, and the cost is low, and the research and development is fast. In just 5 years, ASML has won more than half of the global market. Later, Nikon and Canon wanted to follow up. late.

Hu Zhengming served as the chief technology officer of TSMC in 04.

Zhou Xin knew Martin because Zhou Xin had heard the other party's speech at the scene of the Semiconductor International Society.

At that time, the status of the two parties was too different, and Zhou Xin was only a doctoral student, so he had no chance to talk to him at all.

"Oh! Newman, nice to meet you, my son likes the Angry Birds you designed." Martin has a very typical appearance of a white old man, almost the same as 20 years later.

"It's also nice to meet you. I always think that ASML is a promising company. If I didn't start my own business, I would choose to work at AMSL after graduation." Zhou Xin replied.

During Zhou Xin’s conversation with Martin, his memory was awakened. He realized that if ASML hadn’t achieved a leading position in future key technological breakthroughs, they would not be a monopoly at all.

And the place where Huaguo was stuck most severely in later generations was the lithography machine.

He could have bought ASML before ASML broke through in 2004.

ASML's status is not that high yet.

The only problem is that behind ASML are Philips Semiconductors and ASM International, both of which are not short of money.

　If I can't sleep, I still write.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)