tkworld Chapter 179 Echoes
Chapter 179 Echoes
December 5, 2020. Afternoon.
Stuttgart. Bosch Headquarters.
Muller was in his office rereading the email that Stein had sent him two days earlier.
"The gap isn't just half a generation, but at least a generation. We suggest shifting from 'catching up' to 'differentiated development.'"
He read it three times.
Then he picked up the phone and dialed Stein's extension.
"Stein, come to my office."
Three minutes later, Stein pushed the door open and came in.
"I've read your email." Mueller's expression remained completely unchanged—a trait that had served him well throughout his more than two decades of management career. "Tell me your reasons."
Stein sat down and opened his laptop. The technology roadmap was displayed on the screen.
"Mr. Muller, there's a significant gap in Su Chen's publicly published materials." He pointed to the "Physical Model" node on the screen. "Based on the equivalent thermoelastic approximation method, the third-order nonlinear effects must be addressed from 250mm to 300mm. However, Su Chen has never published any papers on third-order processing methods."
"so?"
"There are only two possibilities. First, he hasn't solved the third-order problem yet. Second, he has solved it but chooses not to disclose it."
"What do you prefer?"
"The second possibility," Stein said, "is because Lin Wei stated at the press conference that '300mm is not currently within the scope of openness.' 'Not currently open' implies that progress has been made but the design has been chosen to remain closed. If there had been no progress at all on 300mm, she wouldn't have used the phrase 'not currently open'—she would have said 'still under research.'"
Muller was silent for five seconds.
"continue."
"If Su Chen has already solved the third-order problem and completed the verification of 300mm—this means he possesses a complete theoretical system based on first principles. Our special task force, however, is currently still at the stage of trying to understand 250mm."
"Albrecht and Günther will arrive next Monday. They are the best professors in materials mechanics at the Technical University of Munich."
"I know," Stein said, "but even with two top professors joining us, it will still take us at least six to eight months to replicate Su Chen's work on 250mm. If Su Chen has already reached 300mm—by the time we replicate 250mm, he might already be working on 400mm."
Müller finally frowned slightly.
What's your suggestion?
"Adjust the direction of the task force," Stein said. "Don't try to catch up with Su Chen on the same path. We should leverage Bosch's strengths in engineering and scaling—these are Su Chen's weaknesses. His theories are strong, but Hongyuan Feiniao's mass production capabilities, supply chain management capabilities, and global sales network are far inferior to Bosch's."
Müller did not respond immediately.
He stood up and walked to the window. The December sky in Stuttgart was overcast, and the distant Swabian Jura Mountains were shrouded in mist.
"Stein," he said, his back to Stein, "the timeline for the Suzhou base—do you know it?"
"I know. Production, originally scheduled for Q3, has been moved up to the end of Q2."
"I'm prepared to move it forward again. End of Q1."
Stein paused slightly, "The end of Q1? That only leaves four months—"
"The Suzhou base is Bosch's core strategic position in the Chinese MEMS market." Muller turned to them. "If you're right—if Hongyuan Feibiao has already reached 300mm—then we must establish our presence even faster. Not by catching up technologically, but by securing a place in the market."
"To gain a foothold despite a technological gap?"
"Bosch's brand, Bosch's quality standards, Bosch's global customer relationships—these are things a small Shenzhen company with only 300 employees cannot replace," Muller said. "Technically, they are indeed ahead. But the market doesn't just look at technology."
Stein was silent for a moment, then said:
"I agree with your assessment. However, I still suggest that the special task force's technical research should not stop. Even if we don't aim to catch up, we need to understand Su Chen's theoretical framework. Otherwise, we won't even be able to pinpoint the direction of 'differentiated development.'"
"Of course not," Müller said. "Albrecht and Günther are coming next Monday. I will personally attend the first seminar."
Stein nodded and stood up to leave.
"Stein," Muller called out to him as he reached the door.
"yes?"
"You said in the email—'The gap is at least one generation.'"
"Yes."
"If Hongyuan Flying Bird really completes the 300mm verification—approximately how long will it take us to reach 300mm?"
Stein thought for three seconds: "With the support of two professors from the Technical University of Munich—a conservative estimate—it will take eighteen months to two years."
Muller nodded. "Go out."
After Stein left, Müller stood alone by the window for a long time.
Eighteen months to two years.
Su Chen only used—according to Stein's calculations—less than three months.
This isn't a difference. This is talent.
Muller took a document from the drawer—the production schedule for the Suzhou plant. He drew a line under "end of Q2" in red pen and wrote "end of Q1" next to it.
Then he picked up the phone and dialed a number for China.
……
December 5th, evening. Shenzhen.
The first night after the technical sharing session ended.
The news began to spread.
The speed was faster than Lin Wei had expected.
At 2 PM—three hours after the sharing session ended—the CTO of a Chengdu-based company affiliated with the Flying Bird Alliance told several industry colleagues in a private WeChat group: "Today's sharing session with Hongyuan Flying Bird far exceeded expectations. I can't go into specifics, but I can tell you—you can throw away all those articles that were previously critical."
At 5 PM, the technical lead of a Guangzhou-based MEMS sensor company mentioned during dinner with the CEO of another company: "Hongyuan Feiniao has big news. They've made a major breakthrough in the 300mm sensor field."
By 8 PM—the news had already begun circulating within the MEMS industry circle in the Pearl River Delta. Although no one publicly mentioned specific data—the binding force of the confidentiality agreement still existed—the core information that "Hongyuan Flying Bird's 300mm is a success" had already spread within a small circle.
10 PM.
Lin Wei's phone received six messages within two hours—from six companies that had not previously joined the Flying Bird Alliance.
The content of each message is largely the same:
"Mr. Lin, regarding the joining conditions for the Flying Bird Alliance, are you still accepting new members?"
Lin Wei looked at these messages.
Six companies. There were six companies on the very first day.
She replied to every single message. The content was consistent:
Thank you for your interest. The Flying Bird Alliance is still accepting new members. Detailed terms and conditions can be discussed in person at a later date.
After putting down her phone, she wrote down a number in her notebook on her desk: 29.
23 + 6 = 29.
The number of members in the Flying Birds League is about to grow from 23 to at least 29.
And this is only the first day.
……
At the same time. Beijing. Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Zhou Zhiyuan just flew back from Shenzhen.
He sat in his office, turned on his computer, and began writing a thesis outline.
A Third-Order Extension of the Equivalent Thermoelastic Approximation Method: Theoretical Prediction and Experimental Verification of 300mm MEMS-DRIE
The title Su Chen chose. Although he thought it was too long, he had to admit that it accurately summarized the core content of the paper.
He opened the raw data file that Su Chen had sent him. The scanning data from the white light interferometer, the process parameter records of the DRIE equipment, the calculation log of the third-order correction model—all the data were complete and detailed.
He began to make an outline.
Part 1: Introduction. This section reviews the development of the equivalent thermoelastic approximation method, from linear approximation to second-order corrections and then to third-order corrections. It emphasizes the physical significance of the third-order correction model—it is not an empirical fit, but an analytical solution derived from first-principles calculations.
Part Two: Theoretical Framework. Angular symmetry dimensionality reduction method. Regularized Green's function correction. Complete derivation of the third-order nonlinear thermodynamic response.
Part Three: Calculation Methods. Twelve-region division of a 300mm silicon wafer. Gauss-Legendre optimization. Special treatment of the transition section at the boundary of the seventh region.
Part 4: Experimental Verification. 300mm P-type silicon wafer. DRIE process parameters. White light interferometer measurement results. 12.07°, ±0.018°, Ra 2.3nm.
Part 5: Discussion. A physical explanation for the higher accuracy of the third-order modified model at large scales. Theoretical predictions for scales of 400 mm and larger.
Part VI: Conclusion.
After completing the outline, Zhou Zhiyuan reviewed it once. Then, he added a note next to the "Introduction" in the first part:
Note: Avoid excessive citation of Bosch's literature in the literature review section. The purpose of this paper is to establish an independent theoretical framework, not to compete with Bosch.
He saved the file and then opened the chat window with Su Chen:
"The outline is finished. I'll send it to you tomorrow. When can you submit your first draft?"
Three minutes later, Su Chen replied: "One week for the theoretical part. Three days for the experimental part."
"Then let's finalize the manuscript in two weeks."
"Can."
Zhou Zhiyuan shut down his computer.
This paper—if published in Nature Materials—would be a seismic event for the global MEMS academic community.
Because it will prove that high-precision etching of large-size MEMS is not an engineering problem, but a physics problem.
The person who solves it doesn't need decades of engineering experience. All they need is the right theory.
The correct theory—is in the hands of a twenty-three-year-old.
……
12 month 6 day.
Zhihu.
A new comment appeared under the post by the "former Bosch employee".
The commenter's ID is "MEMS Industry Practitioner"—a new account with fewer than two hundred followers.
The comment was only one sentence long:
"I suggest you check out the content of the Feiniao Alliance technical sharing session on December 5th. If you can verify it."
This comment was insignificant under the post with 1.8 likes by the "former Bosch employee"—it only received 7 likes.
But in the following week, similar comments began to appear more and more frequently under various posts questioning Hongyuan Feiniao.
The content was all pretty much the same—no one directly mentioned the specific data for 300mm, but everyone was implying that "Hongyuan Flying Bird has made a major breakthrough."
The balance of public opinion is slowly and irreversibly tilting.
The noise is getting quieter and quieter.
The signal is becoming increasingly clear.
……
April 12st morning.
University of Tokyo.
Akira Ishikawa opened the webpage of a Chinese science and technology media outlet that he checks every day.
There has been no public reporting about the Flying Bird Alliance technical sharing session—as expected, it was an internal sharing session.
But he noticed something.
On a vertical forum for the Chinese MEMS industry—a forum he had been following for three months—several new posts suddenly appeared today, all related to Hongyuan Feiniao.
The post was cryptic—no one mentioned specific technical details. But a subtle shift was implied between the lines:
"Hongyuan Feibiao's technology may be more advanced than people imagine."
"Previous critical articles may need to be re-examined."
"Did anyone attend the sharing session on December 5th? I heard the content was very impactful."
Akira Ishikawa stared at these posts for a long time.
Then he opened his phone's contacts. He scrolled to his favorites. Su Chen's name was there.
He stared at the name for ten seconds.
He then opened a new browser tab and searched for "Shenzhen to Tokyo direct flights in December".
He did not search for "direct flights from Tokyo to Shenzhen".
He searched for "direct flights from Shenzhen to Tokyo".
Because what he was considering wasn't going to Shenzhen himself—but whether Su Chen might come to Tokyo.
But he quickly dismissed the idea. Su Chen wouldn't be coming to Tokyo. What Su Chen was doing right now was more important than any academic exchange.
Akira Ishikawa closed the browser.
He looked at Su Chen's name in his phone's contacts again.
This time, his fingers did not hesitate.
He opened a new email—not a phone call, but an email.
Recipient: Su Chen. He obtained the email address from the organizing committee of the same academic conference.
Title: "Greetings from Akira Ishikawa of the University of Tokyo"
He spent a long time writing the main text. He deleted and rewrote, rewrote and deleted again. The final version had only four sentences:
Mr. Su Chen:
Hello. I am Akira Ishikawa from the Advanced MEMS Research Institute at the University of Tokyo. I have been following your research on the equivalent thermoelastic approximation method.
If you have time, I would like to have an academic exchange with you. The format is flexible—video call or email are both acceptable.
Looking forward to your reply.
His finger hovered over the send button.
three seconds.
send.
Akira Ishikawa leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.
He didn't know if Su Chen would reply.
But he knew that if he didn't contact them soon, it might be too late.
Too late for what?
There wasn't enough time to become Su Chen's conversation partner—not just a bystander.
While the entire MEMS academic community was still discussing 250mm, Akira Ishikawa had already vaguely sensed that Su Chen had gone further than anyone thought.
He didn't want to start climbing the mountain when Su Chen was already standing on the summit.
Tokyo outside the window was still cold. But for the first time, Akira Ishikawa's heart was filled with a warm sense of anticipation.