I Became a Genius Engineer

Material Engineer Cheolwoo Lee (7)

In the meantime, I have tried to synthesize many substances into Bungwoo.

First, hydrogen.

It may be the most stable element, but there was no problem synthesizing it. However, it did not have the property of preventing electromagnetic interference that we wanted.

The first, of course, failed.

And second, I tried using oxygen.

When synthesized with oxygen that is not ionized, it turns into a substance called boric acid, but when synthesized with boron, which is already stably forming a hexagonal structure, another substance came out.

Some oxygen and Bungwoo synthesized a certain substance, but this also did not obtain the material properties we wanted.

In addition, the melting point was so low that it could not be used properly.

After that, various elements were synthesized.

Elemental symbols of inactive gases are helium, number 2, neon, number 10, and argon, number 18.

Some materials failed to synthesize, and some elements had many problems even if synthesized successfully.

On the other hand, while showing an unstable structure at room temperature, the melting point is low or, conversely, too high.

In order to be used as a semiconductor material, many conditions such as proper melting point, strength, hardness, and resistance had to be met, and among them, there had to be no electromagnetic interference.

Already at that point, China had banned rare earth exports.

I did, but… … . Our group of researchers continued to speed up their research.

The next thing I tried was transition metals.

Elements from period 4 to 7, group 3 to 12 of the periodic table. They were atoms of metal.

Iron was a prime example.

We raised a lot of expectations while synthesizing transition metals. This is because of the low resistance of metals.

So the synthesis continued.

Including common iron, silver, gold, titanium, vanadium, copper, zinc, etc.

The total number of transition metals is 38. Excluding some elements that could not be obtained among them, a total of 30 synthesis was attempted.

Among them, a total of 6 materials were successfully synthesized and stable at room temperature.

They were iron, silver, gold, copper, zinc and titanium.

Each synthesized material had its own unique properties. If used in various industries, each of them was a material that would have a tremendous ripple effect.

but… … . Even they couldn’t solve the electromagnetic interference problem we wanted.

Only 40 numbers have been synthesized so far.

It took at most a week and at least two to three days to make one.

4 months after rare earth exports are blocked.

“…… Mr. Cheolwoo Lee. This time, too, it’s a failure.”

Director Min lowered his head and said.

“……Is this a failure again?”

“I got a call from Ohsung Electronics. They said that the stockpile of rare earth elements will be exhausted this month. An emergency meeting has also been called at the Blue House.”

Is it this far?

Until the export of rare earths was banned, they were confident. I thought I could make that much material soon.

But that wasn’t it.

Creating new materials was not always easy.

Of course, it wasn’t all in vain. Based on boungwoo, boron, a synthetic material of iron, boron, a synthetic material of silver, and boungeum, a synthetic material of gold.

If a new industry was developed using various materials such as these, it would be possible to create much more value than Ohsung Electronics today.

But there is no time.

If the stockpile of rare earths runs out right now, Ohsung Electronics’ latest semiconductor production will stop, and if that happens, Ohsung Electronics will collapse.

Would that time be quicker, or would it be quicker to grow a new business with a derivative material of Bungwoo?

I could tell without thinking too deeply.

Growing a new business isn’t something that can be done in a few years. Businesses that need to be held for at least 10 years.

‘… … . Should I go into exile?’

when you’re thinking like that

“How about one last try? We still have one more chance.”

“It’s the last one, so how many times have you synthesized it?

“…”

for a moment… … . Did I try to give up without doing my best until the end again?

“No, it makes sense.”

“Yes? Didn’t you just say it was meaningless?”

“Yes. I did. I almost made the same mistake again. I’ll try my best until the end and if it doesn’t work… then I’ll give up.”

“Good posture. One more round. Which one would you like to synthesize?”

“I need a little more time to think about it. I’ll have to choose carefully this time.”

“all right.”

Director Min waited by my side while I thought.

‘It’s a noble gas, not even a transition metal. So what… … . What should I synthesize?’

I started looking at the periodic table and the properties of the elements again.

‘The elements of the lanthanide group, from lanthanum number 57 to lutetium number 71, are rare earth elements, so they cannot be used.’

Rare earths were elements with element numbers 57 through 71.

Something to cope with that element… … .

‘No, wait a second, a two-dimensional structure… … . There is no point in combining a ratanoid element with silicon. Let’s expand our thoughts.’

It felt like I was trapped in a small thought.

‘Yes, the property of moving electrons is used in reverse.’

An element belonging to halogen that was excluded from previous synthesis.

They had a strong tendency to bring electrons. Therefore, it was excluded from the subject from the beginning of the study.

and what stands out among them.

“It’s bromine.”

“……? Bromine?”

“Yes. Bromine.”

“…… Isn’t that an element belonging to halogen? It has a strong tendency to bring electrons, so it was excluded from the beginning.”

“Yes. I did.”

“In addition, the element of halogen is close to organic chemical substance… Will the synthesis work properly with it? The acidity is strong…”

Among the elements belonging to halogen, the most well-known elements to the public were chlorine, iodine, and iodine.

That is, it was an acidic substance.

“I know. I’m going to take advantage of that.”

“Reverse use? Is that possible?”

“Now I think it’s probably possible.”

“how……?”

“Let’s try it. We don’t have time.”

I started an attempt at synthesis that could be the last.

and after a few days.

The result was a great success.

“……. Success. It is the perfect material to deal with silicon composites. We have confirmed that no electromagnetic interference occurs even at 1 nm or less.”

I’m sure this will work

“…”

“This is a revolution in the semiconductor world. If we can make a process of less than 1 nm without electromagnetic interference… we will be able to achieve 10 times, no, 100 times higher performance. Moore’s Law has not yet been broken.”

Moore’s Law states that the number of transistors integrated into a semiconductor chip doubles every 24 months.

The law seemed to be applied without any problems until now, but it was in danger of collapsing due to electromagnetic interference.

I did, but with the new substance I discovered, the law was supposed to work effectively.

“……. ha ha ha.”

“Right now, I will go to Ohsung Electronics’ research center and actually apply it.”

“Let’s go together.”

We arrived at Ohsung Electronics’ research center.

And Director Min started making semiconductors for testing with the new material I made.

Let’s wait.

“Wow, the wafer has been completed successfully. I will work on it right away.”

Wafers are made successfully.

“It’s complete. It’s a memory chip made with the 10nm process.”

Finally, the memory chip was completed.

“I’ll start the real test right away.”

“yes.”

And, like last time, we started installing the memory in the test fixture.

「1 slot : 990,951 / 1,800,000」

「2 slot : 1,581,872 / 1,600,000」

「3 slot : 1,798,120 / 1,800,000」

“Slot 1 is a semiconductor chip made of pure silicon, slot 2 is a 20nm semiconductor chip, and slot 3 is a semiconductor chip containing 18nm rare earth currently on the market. Have you seen this before?”

“yes.”

Indeed, what will be the performance of the new material I made?

“Then, let’s finally install the one we made earlier.”

Let Director Min install it.

“Loading… … .」

A message pops up saying it’s loading for a while.

「4 slot : 3,869,090 / 4,000,000」

The result came out.

“……. and.”

“You mean 3.8 billion active transistors out of 4 billion?”

I’ve heard that the unit is thousands.

“Yes……. I intentionally accumulated too much, but I’m digesting most of it.”

“That’s the story…”

“Yes. This means that a new semiconductor material has been completed.”

The final test was completed in an instant.

“It worked.”

“Really, crazy. Crazy. This is a revolutionary discovery. Now, 10nm is the limit of the manufacturing process, but it can be integrated even more. Beyond 1nm, if we hope…. to the pico unit.”

“Researcher Jung!”

I called Researcher Jung, who was watching from the side.

“yes.”

“Report it to the Blue House right away. Tell them that the new semiconductor material has been completed and that you will visit it right away.”

“all right.”

* * *

We visited the Blue House late at night.

“Welcome. Mr. Lee Cheol-woo has been waiting for you.”

When we arrived, the Prime Minister was there to meet us.

“First, I want to say sorry. It took a long time to create an alternative material for rare earths.”

“No. Absolutely not. It’s small, but there is still a reserve of rare earths. It’s finished, right?”

The Prime Minister said as if it was nothing to worry about.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise.”

“It’s okay. Rather than that, you must have been tired from coming, so please eat inside.”

We entered the guesthouse under the guidance of the Prime Minister.

Upon entering the guesthouse, the Minister of Science and Technology, the Deputy Prime Minister of Economy, and Chairman Kang of Ohsung Electronics were there.

“Major Min.”

“yes!”

Chairman Kang of Ohsung Electronics called Director Min.

“It was just completed? Isn’t that what you’re just saying? You know what we want is a semiconductor material that can be commercialized, right?”

“Yes! I know. I participated in the process of making the material myself. It is not a difficult material to obtain, and mass production is expected to be possible.”

“Is it possible? It has to be possible.”

“… What do you think, Mr. Lee Cheol-woo?”

He turned the question to me.

“It is possible, although it will require investment in facilities.”

“Then how about performance?”

He asked Director Min again.

“We succeeded in integrating 10nm. As much as the limit of the latest semiconductor integration tools we have.”

“……is that really true?”

“Yes. This is the way I will check with my own two eyes.”

“It’s not like that, but it means that we succeeded in producing while using the semiconductor integration tools we have.”

“Oh, yes! That’s right. The material made by Dr. Cheol-Woo Lee is perfectly compatible with existing semiconductor production facilities.”

“Crazy. Crazy. Can you create something like that?”

“Yes. That’s right. It’s not like Mr. Lee Chul-woo is called a unique genius in the world for nothing. He… he is… a god.”

… … . I mean, talk about that when I’m not around.

“……. This, to the extent that Director Min praised it to this extent. Mr. Lee Chul-woo.”

Only now, Chairman Kang of Ohsung Electronics called me.

“yes.”

“No, I’ll correct it. Mr. Lee Cheol-woo. I will acknowledge you.”

“…”

“From now on, Ohsung Electronics will support everything Mr. Lee Cheol-woo does.”

Chairman Kang of Ohsung Electronics kept his promise.

“Now, let’s think about what to do about China.”

When the story between Chairman Kang and I was finished, the Prime Minister said.

wait for china