1311 The Fifth Industrial Revolution?

"Mr. Yu, Mr. Fang, this is a real carbon nanotube chip..."

"It's true, but we don't know the specific calculation principle yet."

"Mr. Yu, Mr. Fang, regarding their intelligent AI system, we still have no way to crack it. I need time and the team..."

Mr. Fang brought a huge team of engineers, more than 30 people. It can be said that Huawei's top hardware and software talents are all brought here under the general request.

After getting off the plane, the group of them were directly picked up by people from Xinghuo Technology, and then they lived directly in Xinghuo Factory.

With the special approval of the CEO of Xinghuo Technology, they were allowed to use Xinghuo's laboratory for three days.

And it was only the next day that they got shocking news from the engineer.

The chip that Mr. Yu had always felt strange before was indeed different from the ordinary silicon-based chips on the market.

This is actually a carbon nanotube chip!

"you sure?"

Hearing the report from the number one hardware engineer under him, Fang, who has the title of chip queen, can't sit still any longer.

She just stood up from her chair. As a hardware engineer, who else knows the importance of carbon nanotube chips better than her?

In fact, since the birth of silicon-based chips, the technological upgrade of such chips has been dominated by Moore's Law.

From the original transistor, it evolved into a silicon-based chip, then from the micron level to the nanometer level, and now it has evolved to the level of several nanometers.

But when humans make silicon-based chips to this point, they have basically reached the physical limit of silicon-based chips.

Many people even say that the limit of silicon-based chips is at 1nm.

According to the current development process of lithography machines, silicon-based chips will reach this physical limit in the next five or ten years.

So what is the next step for human computers?

Quantum computer?

really,

There have been legends about quantum computers for decades, and it is undeniable that such computers sound really powerful.

But the problem now is that there are still many key issues that have not been resolved, such as what materials to use to make quantum computer chips?

There are also applications of quantum computers, how to set them up, and so on.

So quantum computers are still a long way from us.

At present, in the field of quantum computers, the most far-reaching research is Google, but it is only in its infancy.

Unless human beings can make a major breakthrough in material science in the next hundred years, it is unlikely that they will want to create a quantum computer.

There are also photonic computers that have been rumored for a long time together with quantum computers, and the same is true.

Unless human beings have a major breakthrough in material science in the next hundred years, it is impossible to make a photonic computer.

However, this carbon nanotube computer is more realistic.

Moreover, the idea of ​​using carbon-based chips to make chips has long been proposed, but it has not been implemented because it is very difficult to manufacture.

But it is undeniable that in recent decades, countries all over the world have been quietly researching the manufacturing technology of carbon nanotube chips.

And again, without exception, the Americans are still at the forefront.

Even as early as 2019, a research team at MIT used 14,000 carbon nanotubes to create a 16-bit microprocessor.

In my country, although there are scientific research teams conducting research on carbon nanotube chips, they have never made it public in terms of technology.

No one can say what the specific effect will be.

Recently, because of being sanctioned by the United States, their team was discussing how to bypass the sanctions of the Americans.

Some engineers under her have suggested that it is better to transfer to start research on the manufacture of carbon nanotube chips.

At that time, there was a heated discussion, but unfortunately, this idea was finally rejected by Mr. Fang.

Because there are not many people in the company who know how to make carbon nanotube chips.

There are not even many experts in the world, and the number one experts in this field are basically in the United States.

It is obviously unrealistic to invite these people to work for Huawei.

And even in China, there are not many people who are really familiar with and understand carbon nanotubes. How should they carry out research in this area?

Even if they are willing to invest and dare to try to innovate in this field, the problem is that the company can't afford to wait!

Maybe after ten or twenty years, they will be able to make a breakthrough in this field, but by then, the company may be so dirty.

And now, they discovered a carbon nanotransistor chip in a company called Xinghuo Technology that popped up suddenly in Bincheng.

How do you think this party can still sit still?

Although his engineers have confirmed with her repeatedly.

But Mr. Fang still couldn't bear it, and followed the engineer to the microscope.

Until I confirmed with my own eyes in a microscope that what is on the chip is not a groove etched by a photolithography machine on a traditional silicon-based chip, but a structure built with carbon nanotransistors.

Only then did she completely confirm that this chip is really the legendary carbon nanotube chip.

After confirming the chip, Mr. Fang couldn't help but blurred his eyes with tears.

We Huaguo finally have a technology that we can produce by ourselves!

And the discovery of this chip, it can be said that this is definitely the embodiment of real corner overtaking.

With such a chip, there are really too many things they can do.

No matter how fiercely restricted by foreign countries, we are not afraid, because we have jumped out of your system.

Speaking of the benefits of this carbon nanotube chip, there are really too many.

In terms of electron transport speed, because it is transported in carbon nanotubes, it is hundreds of times faster than silicon-based chips.

The most important thing is that in the process of electron transmission, because it is inside the carbon nanotube, it also avoids the problems of entanglement and interference between electrons.

Therefore, the operating speed and efficiency of carbon nanotube chips are much higher than those of silicon-based chips.

Therefore, in terms of efficiency and speed, carbon nanotube chips have natural advantages over silicon-based chips.

Basically, for chips with the same specification process, the operating speed and efficiency of carbon nanotube chips are ten times that of silicon-based chips.

Moreover, the production process of the two is also very different. Of course, in the process of manufacturing carbon-based wafers, as well as photolithography or etching, many of the processes are the same.

The process of producing silicon-based chips is equivalent to the subtractive processing commonly used in metal processing plants.

It is equivalent to sending an iron ingot to the machine tool, and then let the machine tool use various tools to continuously cut, turn, mill and grind the iron ingot.

The production process of the chip is to send the silicon wafer into the lithography machine, use the laser to carve grooves on the wafer, and then apply various chemicals to the grooves after applying the photoresist. to corrode.

Then operate the carving layer by layer...

Therefore, the speed of the manufacturing process is very slow. In addition, it is often prone to errors. The yield rate has always been the main problem plaguing major chip manufacturers.

For carbon nanotube chips, the production process is quite different.

If the production process of silicon-based chips is a process of subtractive processing, the equipment used is equivalent to a five-axis machine tool.

Then the production process of carbon nanotube chips is a process of additive processing, and the equipment used is equivalent to a 3D printer.

The production principle of carbon nanotubes is to use carbon nanotubes as raw materials, and then build these carbon nanotubes together like building blocks one by one to build a city that can pass through electrons.

And because of the natural advantages of carbon nanotubes, electrons run faster in cities constructed of carbon nanotubes, have weaker interference with each other, and are less prone to heat generation, so the advantages of carbon nanotube chips can be said is innate.

A carbon nanotube is one nanometer in size, and the main raw material is graphite crystal.

And the thickness of a strand of hair is about 50,000 to 60,000 nanometers, so it can be seen that the fineness of the carbon nanotubes is definitely comparable to the size of bacteria.

And the manufacture of this carbon nanotube is very difficult.

When you produce the same batch, the length and thickness of the carbon nanotubes are different.

The different shapes lead to different properties. Some are nanotubes with pure metal properties, while others are nanotubes with semiconductor properties.

And if you want to make semiconductor chips, you need semiconductor nanotubes.

So how to select semiconductor nanotubes from the production furnace is a problem that plagues developers all over the world.

So with regard to carbon nanochips, although they are currently the most promising materials for next-generation computer chips that can replace silicon-based chips.

But so far, we're far from real carbon nanotube chips.

Fang always remembered that two years ago, she had participated in a world-class computer chip development conference.

At that conference, some experts said that we are probably still 20 to 50 years away from the birth of real carbon-based chips.

Because there are too many new processes, new materials, new equipment, and even new drivers involved.

And once the carbon-based chip is really born, it will definitely be epoch-making.

This means that we have to talk to the traditional world pattern for nothing.

A new era is coming!

We must know that so far, mankind has experienced four large-scale industrial revolutions.

The first time was the appearance of the steam engine, the second time was when human beings entered the era of electricity, and the third time was when Americans led the entry into the era of electronic automation in the last century. To put it bluntly, computers began to become popular and applied to various fields.

The fourth time is the era of information explosion brought about by the Internet tide.

And if carbon-based chips are born, it definitely means that a new era of industrial revolution is coming!

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