N-M Chapter 155 Siege
Chapter 155 Siege
January 7, 2020, early morning.
In front of the headquarters building of Shenzhen Hongyuan Feiniao Technology Co., Ltd. in Nanshan District, a row of black commercial vehicles are neatly parked on the side of the road.
The license plates included Guangdong B, Beijing A, and even a few with embassy plates—the small national flags printed on those cars belonged to the United States, Japan, and France, respectively.
Security captain Lao He stood at the entrance of the hall, looking at the scene before him with a troubled expression.
Starting yesterday afternoon, people began to come to his door. At first, there were two or three, then seven or eight, and by this morning he counted that there were more than twenty people of all kinds sitting in the lobby's rest area.
Among them were many well-dressed and distinguished foreign faces.
Old He has been working at Hongyuan Feiniao for more than half a year and has met many visiting clients and partners. But he has never seen a scene like today, where executives from major global companies have gathered in the lobby, waiting to see their boss.
"Captain He, this guy says he's the Vice President of Supply Chain at Boeing and wants to see President Su," the receptionist whispered as she ran over to report.
"And this one, he says he's the general manager of Toray Industries China..."
"This is the head of Hexcel Asia Pacific..."
"This is the Airbus composite materials purchasing manager..."
Old He felt a chill run down his spine; behind each of those names was a giant corporation that could wield immense influence in the global industrial world.
He quickly dialed Lin Wei's number.
"Mr. Lin, a bunch of foreigners have arrived, all saying they want to see President Su. The titles on their business cards are increasingly impressive. What do you think of this…?"
Lin Wei on the other end of the phone was silent for two seconds, then calmly said:
"Have them wait in the meeting room. I'll be down in ten minutes."
Ten minutes later, Lin Wei appeared in the lobby on the first floor.
She was wearing a dark gray business suit, her hair neatly tied back, and a professional smile on her face, but her eyes revealed a calm and composed demeanor.
"Hello everyone, I'm Lin Wei, co-founder and operations manager of Hongyuan Feiniao. Mr. Su is currently not in Shenzhen; please feel free to contact me first if you have any questions."
The first person to stand up in the crowd was a white man in his early fifties, dressed in a sharp suit with a Boeing badge pinned to his chest.
"Ms. Lin, this is Michael Harrison, Vice President of Global Supply Chain at Boeing," he said in fluent English, while the translator beside him simultaneously translated his words into Chinese. "Boeing is very interested in your company's lightweight carbon fiber composite materials and hopes to resume previous cooperation negotiations."
"Resume?" Lin Wei raised an eyebrow slightly, her smile unchanged, but her tone held a subtle undertone. "As far as I know, Mr. Harrison, your company canceled our meeting the day after the IDSA report was released. If I'm not mistaken, the cancellation email was sent at 3:47 PM on November 3rd, two hours earlier than Toray and Hexcel."
A flicker of embarrassment crossed Harrison's face, but he quickly regained his composure.
"Ms. Lin, that's a misunderstanding. We are internally assessing the credibility of the IDSA report—"
"Mr. Harrison," Lin Wei interrupted him, her voice soft but each word clear, "the credibility of the IDSA report was questioned by at least three independent media outlets on the very day it was released. Your company took four days to 'assess' its unreliability; that speed is indeed impressive."
The hall fell silent for a moment.
The translator behind Harrison opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately kept it closed.
At that moment, another person stood up.
This was a Japanese man, around sixty years old, with graying hair, wearing a well-tailored navy blue suit. He bowed slightly and said in slightly accented Chinese:
"Ms. Lin, I am Seiichi Tanaka, General Manager of Toray Industries, China. Toray has always attached great importance to its cooperative relationship with Chinese companies, and we sincerely apologize for the previous 'suspension'."
Lin Wei looked at Tanaka Seiichi with a calm expression.
Toray Industries.
The absolute leader in the global carbon fiber industry, the inventor and main supplier of T700, T800 and T1100 series carbon fibers.
Before the advent of lightweight armor, Toray was the undisputed king of carbon fiber.
But the emergence of lightweight armor has broken this pattern—0.25 mm thick, with a strength 8 times that of ordinary carbon fiber and 3 times that of T800.
Toray doesn't not want the technology for light armor; they want it too much.
"Mr. Tanaka," Lin Wei said calmly, "what kind of cooperation does Toray Industries want to discuss with us?"
"We hope to purchase samples of the lightweight armor for testing and evaluation, and at the same time explore the possibility of long-term supply cooperation," said Seiichi Tanaka in a humble tone. "If your company needs support in terms of carbon fiber precursor, Toray can also provide it—"
"Mr. Tanaka," Lin Wei interrupted him again, "I appreciate Toray's sincerity. But you should know that Hongyuan Feiniao has acquired Pengcheng New Materials, and we are building our own carbon fiber prepreg production line. We don't need external supplies for the raw materials at the moment."
Seiichi Tanaka's lips twitched slightly.
Of course he knew about Pengcheng New Materials. It was precisely because he knew that he was even more anxious.
If Hongyuan Feiniao completes its full industrial chain layout from carbon fiber precursor to prepreg to lightweight armor finished products, Toray's position in the Chinese market will be impacted like never before.
But the most embarrassed person at this moment was neither Boeing's Harrison nor Toray's Tanaka Seiichi.
Instead, it was the person sitting in the corner who hadn't said a word—Richard Wilson, head of Hexcel Asia Pacific.
If Boeing was the "first to cancel the meeting," then Hexcel was the one that "never made a formal statement from beginning to end."
But that's not what embarrassed Richard.
What truly embarrassed him was what happened in 2019.
Back in 2019, when Hongyuan Feiniao was still called "Su Chen's Laboratory," Su Chen contacted Hexcel through academic channels, hoping to conduct technical exchanges on carbon fiber composite materials.
Hexcel's reply at the time was just four words: "Not considering it for now."
No, to be precise, there wasn't even a "not considering it for now" response. Hexcel didn't reply at all. Su Chen's email went unanswered; he didn't even receive an automatic reply.
Now, this young man, whom Hexcel once considered not worth replying to emails, has developed the lightweight carbon fiber composite material that Hexcel has been longing for.
Richard took a deep breath and stood up.
"Ms. Lin, this is Richard Wilson, Head of Hexcel Asia Pacific. On behalf of Hexcel, I would like to express my sincere apologies to your company regarding the events of 2019."
Lin Wei looked at Richard, her gaze devoid of mockery, but also devoid of warmth.
"Mr. Wilson, you don't need to apologize to me," she said calmly.
"That……"
"Our policy is very clear." Lin Wei glanced around at everyone present, her voice soft but crystal clear, "Light armor will be prioritized for supply to members of the Flying Bird Industry Alliance. If any of your companies are interested in joining the alliance, you can submit an application through official channels, and we will review it according to the alliance's bylaws."
"The alliance's bylaws?" Harrison frowned. "Ms. Lin, could you please disclose the alliance's admission criteria?"
"The conditions aren't complicated." Lin Wei pulled a piece of paper from the folder and handed it over. "Three points. First, technological transparency—companies joining the alliance need to disclose the specific application scenarios and technical parameters of the light armor used in their products, and share application data with other alliance members. Second, no participation in supply chain blockades—alliance members must not cooperate with any third party to impose supply chain restrictions or technological blockades on companies within the alliance. Third, mutual benefit—alliance members enjoy priority in technological collaboration and the right to cross-recommend products."
Harrison's expression became subtle after reading these three points.
The first clause, "technology transparency," means that Boeing must disclose data on the application of light armor in aircraft to Hongyuan Flying Bird, which is almost unacceptable for an aviation giant with a military background.
The second clause, "not participating in supply chain blockades," is almost a direct rebuttal to the IDSA report. If Boeing joins the alliance and signs this clause, it will be tantamount to publicly distancing itself from the IDSA.
The third clause, "mutual benefit," means that Boeing's competitors could also obtain light armor through the alliance.
"Ms. Lin, these conditions..." Harrison carefully chose his words, "For a company of our size, they require approval at the headquarters level."
"Of course." Lin Wei nodded with a smile. "You can all take your time to consider it. Hongyuan Feibiao is not in a hurry."
Not in a hurry.
These three words are the most weighty of all the words Lin Wei said today.
Because it conveys a clear message—the wild birds don't need you.
You need light armor.
After the meeting room door closed, Lin Wei was left alone in the corridor. She took out her phone and sent a message to Su Chen:
"Boeing, Toray, Hexcel, and Airbus all came, but I rejected them all. They can't swallow the alliance terms in the short term. I expect Toray to be the first to soften its stance, followed by Hexcel, while Boeing and Airbus will need more time."
Su Chen replied quickly:
"Well done. Also, Liu Shaojun from AVIC will be here this afternoon with the final draft of the strategic cooperation agreement. You and Zhang Haotian can sign it together."
Lin Wei's eyes lit up slightly when she saw the message.
AVIC (Aviation Industry Corporation of China)
This is a truly big order.
Unlike the tentative and calculating "cooperation intentions" between Boeing and Toray, AVIC's strategic cooperation is substantial—a long-term supply agreement for military-grade carbon fiber composite materials with an order cycle of up to five years and monthly supply gradually increasing with production capacity.
What does this mean?
This means that light armor will officially enter the military supply system.
Once it enters the military-industrial complex, it's no longer a simple commercial cooperation—it represents a national-level endorsement of trust.
From now on, anyone who wants to target Hongyuan Flying Bird's supply chain will have to consider whether the AVIC brand is strong enough.
At 3 p.m., Liu Shaojun from the Advanced Materials Department of AVIC arrived at the headquarters of Hongyuan Feiniao on time.
He was a man in his forties, wearing an ordinary dark blue jacket, a stark contrast to the impeccably dressed international tycoons. But every employee of Hongyuan Feiniao present knew what this unassuming man represented.
The signing ceremony was conducted without any fanfare. In a small conference room on the third floor, Lin Wei and Zhang Haotian, representing Hongyuan Feiniao, and Liu Shaojun, representing AVIC, quietly signed the documents.
After signing the last word, Liu Shaojun looked up at Lin Wei and said one sentence:
"Go back and tell Su Chen that the country's strength lies here. Let him focus on his technical work."
Lin Wei was slightly taken aback, then nodded heavily.
After the signing was completed, Zhang Haotian did a simple financial calculation—once the long-term supply agreement with AVIC is implemented, Qingjia's monthly revenue will increase from the current 3 million to about 4.5 million.
Although it is far from the initial estimate of tens of billions of dollars in the international market, this 4.5 million is a stable, long-term income that is not affected by any international turmoil.
With the addition of 3200 million yuan from mobile phone manufacturing, 2.1 million yuan from mobile phone lenses, and 9000 million yuan from wireless LAN modules, Hongyuan Feiniao's monthly revenue will reach approximately 10.8 billion yuan.
This figure is sufficient to support the research and development of DRIE, the free promotion of MEMS development boards, and the transformation of Pengcheng New Materials' carbon fiber prepreg production line.
money is not a problem.
Time is the only thing that matters.
.........
On the same day, at 5 p.m., in Suzhou Industrial Park.
Su Chen stood at the entrance of Chen Guodong's team's laboratory, looking at the workshop in front of him that had been completely transformed.
When he first came here three months ago, it was just a rudimentary experimental platform—a few second-hand vacuum devices, a modified plasma source, and pipes and cables all over the place.
But now, it has been transformed into a proper DRIE laboratory.
In the center of the workshop stands the 200mm DRIE prototype chamber—its stainless steel casing gleams with a cold metallic luster under the fluorescent lights, and the top of the chamber is connected to a dense network of pipes, next to which are brand-new RF power supplies and pneumatic control cabinets.
The most eye-catching feature is the four sets of flow channels inside the cavity.
This is a solution derived by Shen Zhiming based on the anomalies in the 7th set of data—by installing guide grooves at a specific angle on the inner wall of the cavity, the airflow distribution of SF₆ and C₄F₈ can be precisely controlled, thereby achieving the same etching uniformity in a larger cavity as in a smaller cavity.
The installation angle of the guide channel is 11.5 degrees, a figure derived from Shen Zhiming's four consecutive days of airflow field simulation calculations.
"President Su, the equipment is ready." Chen Guodong walked over, his hands stained with oil, but his face beaming with barely suppressed excitement. "The RF power supply was debugged yesterday, and the cavity vacuum level has reached the design specification of 5×10⁻³ Pa. The gas path system has also undergone three leak tests, all of which passed."
Where is Shen Zhiming?
"Make final parameter confirmations in the control room." Chen Guodong nodded toward the cubicle at the other end of the workshop.
Su Chen walked into the control room and saw Shen Zhiming staring at the dense data curves on the computer screen.
This former engineer at AMEC, in his early thirties, seems like a completely different person since joining Chen Guodong's team. At AMEC, he was responsible for the maintenance and optimization of mature processes—day after day, adjusting parameters, running tests, and writing reports, with almost no room for technical breakthroughs.
But here, everything starts from scratch.
There were no ready-made process parameters to copy, no textbooks to consult; every piece of data was carved out by them, stroke by stroke.
而那个"第7组数据异常"——功率窗口78%-82%时SF₆刻蚀速率异常升高到5.1μm/min，侧壁角度反而改善到89.7°——正是沈志明在无数次失败的实验中捕捉到的灵光一闪。
"Is the data ready?" Su Chen asked.
Shen Zhiming turned his head, his eyes bloodshot—clearly another all-nighter—but he was extremely excited.
"Mr. Su, I ran the simulation of the 200mm cavity 12 times." He pointed to a set of three-dimensional airflow distribution diagrams on the screen. "With four sets of guide channels at an installation angle of 11.5 degrees, the SF₆ concentration difference between the center and edge of the cavity decreased from 23% without guide channels to 4.7%. Theoretically, this uniformity can already meet the requirements for batch etching."
Su Chen leaned closer to take a closer look at the simulation results.
12轮仿真，每一轮的参数都有微调——RF功率从75%到85%，腔压从15mTorr到25mTorr，SF₆/C₄F₈流量比从2:1到4:1。
Among all parameter combinations, the optimal set falls precisely within the power window range of 78%-82% and the cavity pressure range of 18-20 mTorr.
It perfectly matches the "abnormal data" that Shen Zhiming found on the small cavity.
苏辰在虚拟空间中早已验证过这个结论——导流槽方案在200毫米腔体上是可行的，250毫米需要微调安装角度到12.2度，300毫米则需要增加第四组导流槽并将角度调整到13.8度。
However, there will always be a gap between verification in virtual space and actual testing in the real world.
"Let's get started," Su Chen said.
Chen Guodong and Shen Zhiming exchanged a glance, then nodded simultaneously.
At 7 p.m., the first formal test of the 200 mm DRIE cavity officially began.
Su Chen stood in front of the observation window in the control room, watching the moment the radio frequency power supply inside the cavity lit up—a pale blue plasma slowly formed in the center of the cavity, like a jellyfish blooming in the deep sea, breathtakingly beautiful.
"RF power is stable at 80%, cavity pressure is 19 mTorr." Shen Zhiming's voice came through the walkie-talkie, focused and steady.
"SF₆ flow rate 120 sccm, C₄F₈ flow rate 45 sccm. Airflow distribution...normal! The guide channel is working properly!"
Su Chen's hands clenched involuntarily.
At that moment, he recalled the scene three months ago in this laboratory when Chen Guodong successfully lit up the plasma for the first time.
The etching rate that time was only 2.8 μm/min, and the sidewall angle was only 85.2°.
And now-
"First round of etching complete!" Shen Zhiming's voice suddenly rose an octave. "President Su! SF₆ etching rate—4.8 μm/min! Sidewall angle—89.5°!"
A cheer erupted in the control room.
Chen Guodong, his face flushed with excitement, grabbed Shen Zhiming's shoulders and shook him twice: "It's done! The flow channel design is a success!"
But Su Chen did not join in the cheering.
His eyes were fixed on another set of data on the screen—the difference in etching depth between the center and the edge of the cavity.
This is the most crucial verification indicator for the flow channel solution.
If the difference in etching depth between the center and the edge exceeds 8%, then even if the rate and angle meet the standards, the equipment cannot be used for mass production.
The data appeared on the screen line by line.
Etching depth in the central region: 48.2 μm.
Edge region (north side): 46.8 μm.
Edge region (south side): 47.1 μm.
Edge region (east side): 46.5 μm.
Edge region (west side): 47.3 μm.
Su Chen quickly calculated in his mind—the biggest difference appeared on the east side, 48.2 minus 46.5, a difference of 1.7μm, with a deviation rate of 3.5%.
3.5%.
Well below the 8% threshold.
"Uniformity... 3.5%." Su Chen's voice was a little hoarse, but every word seemed to be squeezed out from his chest.
The control room fell silent for a moment again.
Then, an even louder cheer erupted than the first one.
Shen Zhiming jumped up from his chair, raising his hands high above his head. Chen Guodong, on the other hand, plopped down on the floor, looking up at the ceiling with reddened eyes.
In this simple laboratory in Suzhou Industrial Park, on the night of November 7, 2020—
China’s first 200mm DRIE deep silicon etching prototype with mass production potential has completed its first successful etching.
Su Chen stood there, looking at the fluctuating numbers on the screen, and the corners of his mouth finally slowly turned up.
But he knew this was only the first step.
The 200mm test was successful; next up is 250mm, and then 300mm.
The angle of the guide channels needs to be adjusted, the fourth set of guide channels needs to be designed and manufactured, and the airflow field model needs to be recalibrated...
There is still a long way to go.
But the direction has been confirmed.
He took out his phone and sent Lin Wei a message:
"The first 200mm test was successful. Uniformity was 3.5%, velocity was 4.8 μm/min, and sidewall angle was 89.5°. The guide channel design has been validated."
Then he sent another message to Professor Zhou Zhiyuan:
"Professor Zhou, I've finalized the chip design for the development board. Once DRIE is stable, I'll personally come to Tsinghua to report to you."
Finally, he opened Weibo and glanced at his three-sentence post—it had been forwarded over 200,000 times.
The latest comment is:
"Su Chen, what are you busy with? Come out and say something!"
Su Chen smiled and put his phone back in his pocket.
What is he busy with?
He was busy planting seeds.
Some seeds germinate after three months—like DRIE.
Some seeds blossom after three years—for example, MEMS development boards entering universities.
Some seeds don't bear fruit until ten years later—like an entire generation of engineers who grew up using Hon Hai Precision Industry's chips.
But no matter how long it takes, once it's planted, it will definitely grow.
Su Chen had never doubted this.