sonovelo Chapter 167, Second Time
Chapter 167, Second Time
2020年11月19日，下午1点38分。
Hongyuan Feiniao's official Weibo account released a statement:
Hongyuan Feiniao Technology officially announced: This morning, the company's independently developed 250mm DRIE equipment completed its first etching test.
实测侧壁角度12.03度（第二次测量12.04度），与等效热弹性近似法解析预测值12.05度偏差0.02度（偏差率0.17%），验证成功。
该测试结果表明：苏辰先生于2020年7月独创的'等效热弹性近似法'在250mm尺寸DRIE腔体上的预测精度与200mm腔体一致，均达到了0.02度的偏差水平。
The 611 Research Institute of AVIC will issue an independent third-party test report within three days.
Technology is the only language that doesn't need explanation.
The moment this statement was issued—
Blasted.
……
Five minutes after it was posted: the number of reposts exceeded 20,000.
Fifteen minutes after being posted: the number of reposts exceeded 100,000. The comment section refreshed so fast that the page started to lag.
Thirty minutes after the announcement: Weibo's servers experienced a brief delay—Weibo officials later confirmed that the traffic surge triggered by this announcement was the second largest that day, second only to a top celebrity's relationship announcement.
One hour after the post was published: three topics simultaneously trended on social media.
#250mm verified successfully# — Trending at number one, with over 2 million views in 12 minutes
#12.03 degrees# — Third on the trending topics list
#Technology is the only language that doesn't need explanation# — Fifth on the trending topics list
Two hours after the post was published: #Bosch uses 15 billion to prove Su Chen is a formidable opponent# This trending topic from yesterday has surged back into the top ten—because countless people commented below: "15 billion? Now it's even more worthwhile."
……
The major media outlets reacted faster than Weibo.
Science and Technology Daily (22 minutes after publication): "0.02 degrees - Su Chen's equivalent thermoelastic approximation method is verified again in a 250mm cavity"
Xinhua News Agency (35 minutes after release): "my country's independently developed 250mm DRIE equipment successfully completed its first test, breaking through key technologies in large-size MEMS manufacturing."
—The Xinhua News Agency report means that this is no longer just a corporate news item, but has been officially recognized as a technological breakthrough of national strategic significance.
CCTV News App (41 minutes after publication): A news flash was pushed to the homepage scrolling area: "Hongyuan Flying Bird 250mm DRIE lens successfully completed its first test, with a deviation of only 0.02 degrees."
The Paper: "From 200mm to 250mm, what did Su Chen prove with a deviation of 0.02 degrees?"
36Kr: "Bosch invested 15 billion yesterday, and Su Chen responded with a 12.03-degree return today."
The title of the last article went viral on WeChat Moments—because it accurately captured a fact that everyone had noticed:
Bosch announced a 15 billion investment on November 18.
Su Chen announced the 250mm verification results on November 19.
The time difference was less than 24 hours.
Bosch announced its arrival with 15 billion RMB.
Su Chen answered with a deviation of 0.02 degrees: "I know."
……
On Zhihu, the question "How would you evaluate the successful verification of the Su Chen 250mm DRIE lens?" received more than 3400 answers within two hours.
The top-ranked answer came from the Tsinghua University postdoctoral researcher who wrote "As someone who deals with ANSYS every day, I was shocked by a handwritten derivation" three days ago—he updated his original answer, adding a paragraph:
Update: The verification results for 250mm are in. 12.03 degrees, deviation 0.02.
Three days ago I said, 'If the 250mm verification experiment can achieve similar accuracy, then the design paradigm for large-size DRIE cavities may need to be rewritten.'
I don't say 'maybe' anymore.
It has been rewritten.
The equivalent thermoelastic approximation method shows a deviation of 0.02 degrees at 200 mm and 0.02 degrees at 250 mm. Two cavities of different sizes and aspect ratios yielded completely consistent levels of accuracy. This means that Su Chen's analytical model has good scalability—if this trend continues, cavity designs of 300 mm or even larger sizes can be directly predicted using this method.
ANSYS is not needed. COMSOL is not needed. ABAQUS is not needed.
A pen, a formula, and 0.02 degrees of precision.
After six years of doctoral and postdoc studies, today is the first time I'm seriously considering whether to change my research direction.
This update received another 2.1 upvotes.
……
3 pm.
Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Academician Wang Deming read Hongyuan Feiniao's official statement in his office.
He remained silent for a few seconds, then opened Weibo—this was the first time he had proactively made a public statement on Weibo.
His Weibo post contained only one sentence:
"Today is a day to remember for the MEMS industry."
The equivalent thermoelastic approximation method was validated on a 250mm cavity—with a deviation of 0.02 degrees, perfectly consistent with the 200mm cavity. This means that the analytical model proposed by Su Chen is not an isolated coincidence, but a systematic and repeatable methodology.
Three days ago, during a live broadcast, I said, "It's not that he's wrong, it's that the entire industry hasn't reached this point yet." Today's verification results prove that point.
Starting today, the design of DRIE large-size chambers will enter a new era.
A salute to Mr. Su Chen and his team.
This Weibo post received 47 likes within an hour of being published.
Academician Wang Deming's Weibo followers have increased from 1.2 before the live broadcast to 380 million now—the vast majority of whom followed him in the past three days.
……
4 pm.
Tokyo, Bosch Asia Pacific Headquarters.
On Ishikawa Akira's desk lay a newly printed document—Hongyuan Asuka's official statement.
He watched it three times.
12.03 degrees. Deviation 0.02 degrees. Verification successful.
Akira Ishikawa closed his eyes.
He recalled what Muller had said yesterday—"Bosch lets its products speak for themselves, and lets the market decide who wins."
But at this moment, he knew clearly that if the equivalent thermoelastic approximation method truly had scalability, then Bosch's production capacity and brand advantages could not bridge a fundamental gap:
What Su Chen is doing, Bosch cannot do.
It's not that I can't do it well.
It's simply impossible.
Bosch's MEMS sensor designs have always relied on commercial simulation software—ANSYS, COMSOL, and ABAQUS. While these software programs perform well for standard sizes (below 100mm), the computational load increases exponentially for larger cavities, and the accuracy decreases significantly.
Su Chen's equivalent thermoelastic approximation method bypasses this problem—he doesn't need simulation software; he calculates directly using analytical solutions.
The computational cost of analytical solutions does not increase with the size.
This means that, theoretically speaking, Su Chen can directly predict the thermal expansion parameters of 300mm, 350mm, or even 400mm cavities, while Bosch engineers are still waiting for ANSYS to finish running a 200mm simulation model.
Akira Ishikawa picked up the phone and dialed Muller's office.
"Mr. Muller, the results are in."
"How many?"
"12.03 degrees. Deviation 0.02 degrees. Same as 200mm."
There was a five-second silence on the other end of the phone.
"...Accelerate the construction of the Suzhou base." Muller's voice was half a octave lower than yesterday. "The original 18-month construction period has been reduced to 12 months."
"clear."
"And—" Mueller paused, "we need to establish a special research group to study Su Chen's equivalent thermoelastic approximation method. I need to know where the boundaries of this method lie, and I need to know if we can replicate it."
"……yes."
Akira Ishikawa hung up the phone.
He knew Muller wouldn't admit it, but he sensed a truth in Muller's tone—
Bosch got nervous.
I got really nervous.
Yesterday's 15 billion was Bosch's offensive.
Su Chen answered the question about today's temperature being 12.03 degrees Celsius.
The meaning of this answer is: I'll take your 15 billion.
……
5 pm.
Beijing, headquarters of Hangxindatong Technology.
He Zhiqiang sat in his office, with Hongyuan Feiniao's official statement displayed on his computer screen.
12.03 degrees.
He stared at the number and remained silent for a long time.
Yesterday he was still wondering—would Su Chen do something unexpected in the next six months?
I didn't expect it to only take one day.
"Tian Shu chip..." he said softly.
The TianShu chip will not be ready for tape-out for another six months. Meanwhile, Su Chen has already completed the 250mm verification today.
A six-month time difference.
In the past six months, Su Chen may have already started designing the 300mm version.
By then, even if the TianShu chip is successful and Bosch's Suzhou base is completed, Hongyuan Feiniao's technological advantage in the DRIE field may have widened to an unbridgeable gap.
He Zhiqiang picked up the phone.
"Old Zhou, can the progress of the Tian Shu chip be accelerated again?"
"Mr. He, the tape-out time is already the fastest possible—"
"I know. Let's figure something out."
He hung up the phone, leaned back in his chair, and gazed at the darkening sky outside the window.
"Su Chen, Su Chen..." he repeated the name again.
This is the second time he has said this name in two days.
……
6 p.m.
Shenzhen, Nanshan District, Hongyuan Feiniao Headquarters, B3 Floor, DRIE Laboratory.
Su Chen finally turned on his phone.
The notification sound lasted for nearly three minutes the moment the computer was turned on.
He didn't read any of the messages.
He only read the WeChat message Lin Wei sent:
"December 12.03rd. Got it. Time to treat the whole company to dinner."
Su Chen looked at the message and a slight smile appeared on his lips.
He replied: "Tomorrow."
Then he scrolled to another chat window—the "DRIE Team" WeChat group created by Shen Zhiming. The group was already buzzing with hundreds of messages, all of them celebratory emojis and text.
Su Chen sent a message in the group:
"Thank you all for your hard work. There will be a company dinner tomorrow night; the location is to be determined. Go home and get some rest tonight."
Then he logged out of WeChat.
He opened his browser—this was his first contact with the outside world today.
He saw the top trending topic on Weibo: #250mm verified successfully#
He saw the third trending topic: #12.03 degrees#
He saw the fifth trending topic: #TechnologyIsTheOnlyLanguageThatNeedsNoExplanation#
He saw the news yesterday about Bosch's 15 billion investment.
He saw the news that MicroPort Sensors had been acquired.
He saw the news that Bosch and Hangxindatong had signed a strategic cooperation agreement.
He looked at it for about five minutes, then closed the browser.
His expression remained unchanged from beginning to end.
Shen Zhiming walked over: "President Su, you're not sleeping in the lab tonight, are you? Would you like to go back and rest?"
"I'm not going back," Su Chen said.
"Huh?" Shen Zhiming was stunned. "The first test was a success, and you still—"
"250mm verified." Su Chen interrupted him, his gaze turning to a piece of equipment rack in the corner of the laboratory that had not yet been used—on it was a drawing titled **"300mm DRIE Cavity Design Scheme - V0.1"**.
"Next step, 300mm."
Shen Zhiming looked at Su Chen's expression, opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.
He simply sighed softly, then smiled and shook his head.
"Fine. I'm not leaving then."
Su Chen glanced at him and smiled, a rare occurrence for him: "Go back and rest. We have a get-together tomorrow."
And what about you?
"Let me take another look at the blueprints."
Knowing he couldn't persuade him, Shen Zhiming turned and walked towards the door. When he reached the door, he stopped and glanced back at Su Chen.
The laboratory lights shone on Su Chen's profile as he looked down at the 300mm design drawings.
Shen Zhiming recalled the afternoon three years ago when he first met Su Chen. At that time, Su Chen was still working in the Huaqiangbei electronics market, wearing a faded military green jacket and carrying a plastic bag containing a few cheap electronic components.
Su Chen then and Su Chen now—
Actually, nothing has changed.
It's still that same look in his eyes.
Quiet. Certain. Unwavering.
Shen Zhiming gently closed the laboratory door.
In the corridor outside the door, he could hear faint cheers coming from afar—his colleagues in other departments probably already knew the news of the successful first test.
But inside the door, there was only the rustling sound of turning pages.
……
That night.
A new trending topic has quietly emerged on Weibo—
#Su Chen's next step is 300mm#
No one knows the source of this message.
But everyone knows—this is Su Chen.
The 250mm drawing has just been successfully verified, and he's already looking at the 300mm drawing.
Bosch uses 15 billion to say "We're here".
Su Chen said "I know" at 12.03 degrees.
Then he opened the 300mm design drawing.
It means—
"Come on, I'll be waiting for you up ahead."