In the ultraclean laboratory beneath the Stringlight Research Institute, the High NA EUV prototype machine, having endured the rigorous trials of final testing, now rested in a low-power deep maintenance mode. Its massive frame stood silently under soft indicator lights, like a giant who had just completed an epic ascent, taking respite at a summit camp, breathing steadily and deeply. Inside, only the systems essential for maintaining basic vacuum and temperature operated at minimum capacity, emitting an almost imperceptible, slumber-like hum. The air, once thick with the scent of intense battle—mingled sweat and extreme pressure—had been thoroughly purified, replaced by an almost absolute tranquility that carried the cold touch of metal and purified air. It was as if the decisive success earlier was merely a perfectly recorded footnote in the long life of this precision machine.
Outside the lab, in the control center, the celebratory clamor had long subsided. After experiencing an immense release of emotion and a brief respite, most team members had thrown themselves back into the intense tasks of data organization, test report writing, and preparations for the next steps. The joy of success had settled into a more reserved confidence, visible in everyone's eyes and expressions, yet no one grew complacent or stagnant. For they all knew that their commander, Xiuxiu, was not one to rest on laurels and bask in praise.
Sure enough, just forty-eight hours after the successful stability verification of the prototype, while the outside world continued to buzz with reports about China's breakthrough in High NA EUV technology—with various accolades, analyses, and speculations flooding media pages—Xiuxiu had already wiped clean the whiteboard in her project lead office next to the laboratory.
She did not linger in the afterglow of success, nor did she grant herself an extra day to savor that hard-won, complex mix of sentiment and pride. For her, the success of the High NA EUV prototype was not an endpoint, nor even a midway point; it was merely a clear semicolon marking the completion of the previous phase. Having conquered a technological peak and stood atop it to gaze into the distance, what appeared in her vision was an even more majestic, thrilling range of mountains.
Her sight had already traveled beyond the High NA peak just conquered, landing on two clear and urgent new directions.
The first direction: advancing High NA EUV technology toward mass production.
The prototype's success proved the feasibility of the technical route and the attainment of core parameters. However, a vast chasm lay between this and transforming it into an industrial mother machine capable of stably, efficiently, and economically producing millions of qualified chips. This required turning the complex system—meticulously fine-tuned in the lab and reliant on real-time monitoring by numerous engineers and precise compensation from the "Nüwa" system—into a mass-produced model that could withstand the test of 7x24 uninterrupted, high-load operation, characterized by high automation, intelligence, and robustness.
She began listing the core challenges of mass production on the whiteboard:
Reliability and Stability: Mass-produced machines demand extremely high mean time between failures. This entails thorough reliability verification and lifespan enhancement for all critical components: the light source (especially thermal management and longevity of collection mirrors), optical system (long-term stability and contamination resistance of the huge lenses), precision motion stages, vacuum systems, etc. This is not merely a test of materials but the ultimate optimization of entire system integration and control algorithms. Cost and Throughput: The manufacturing cost and operational cost (especially electricity consumption, consumables like tin targets, photoresists, etc.) per device must be controlled within ranges acceptable to chip fabrication plants. Simultaneously, throughput must be elevated to meet the economic requirements of large-scale chip manufacturing by optimizing scanning speed, synchronization precision, yield control, etc. This demands the utmost pursuit of efficiency. Intelligence and Maintainability: Mass-produced machines need strong self-diagnostic, predictive maintenance, and rapid repair capabilities to minimize downtime. This requires deep integration of the real-time compensation technology she validated on the prototype, along with more AI algorithms, into the control system. Supply Chain and Ecosystem: Ensuring the security, stability, and cost competitiveness of supply chains for all critical components and materials, while forming a tightly synergistic ecosystem with upstream and downstream links like chip design, manufacturing, and inspection.
Each of these is an arduous endeavor no less challenging than conquering the prototype itself. Yet this is the path that must be traversed; otherwise, the lab breakthrough would remain forever a brilliance confined to paper.
Yet Xiuxiu's gaze did not stop at solving mass production challenges. Her thinking, as if equipped with a wide-angle lens, simultaneously captured a more distant, more disruptive target: Ultra-High NA, or what the industry often calls Hyper-NA.
On the other side of the board, she firmly wrote the word "Hyper-NA," followed by a large question mark and an arrow pointing into the distance.
Hyper-NA means pushing the numerical aperture into realms higher than 0.55, perhaps 0.7 or beyond. This represents the next-generation lithography path—theoretically necessary—toward process nodes below 1nm and even smaller. However, this road is fraught with immense known and unknown challenges.
She began outlining possible technical directions for Hyper-NA, some based on existing physical understanding, others carrying bold hypotheses from frontier exploration:
Double Exposure with High-NA EUV: A relatively realistic yet complex transitional path. Since the resolution of single High NA exposure still has physical limits, could one split a circuit layer pattern onto two or more masks, performing two or more precise overlay exposures, achieving higher effective resolution through superposition? This imposes hellish demands on overlay accuracy and cost but might be a short-term means to break the resolution bottleneck. Shorter-Wavelength BEUV (Beyond EUV): A more revolutionary direction. If EUV's 13.5nm wavelength is still not short enough, can one find even shorter-wavelength light sources? For instance, exploring BEUV sources around 6.x nm. This requires entirely new plasma generation mechanisms (perhaps no longer tin droplets) and entirely new optical materials capable of high reflectivity at shorter wavelengths (existing Mo/Si multilayer films have extremely low reflectivity in the 6.x nm band). This almost means reinventing everything from the light source to the optical system. Transformative Imaging Technologies: Is it possible to leap entirely beyond the traditional projection lithography paradigm? For example, based on further deepening of computational lithography and inverse design, combined with possible novel detection or writing methods (like some hybrid variant of electron beam or nanoimprint), achieving more direct pattern generation? This demands fundamental breakthroughs in theoretical and technical foundations.
Each of these directions is like searching for a route to a new continent in the fog, filled with uncertainty, requiring immense investment and long periods. But Xiuxiu knew that if they did not think and plan ahead, it would be too late when existing technology reached its physical limit.
Just as she immersed herself in sketching this future technological blueprint, her office door was gently knocked. She responded, and the door opened to reveal Mozi and Yue'er walking in side by side.
Mozi seemed to have just concluded an important meeting, still carrying a trace of the steady, cool aura belonging to decision-makers, but his eyes were calmer than during the financial war's peak. Yue'er remained as serene as ever, holding what appeared to be freshly printed academic materials.
Seeing Xiuxiu standing before the board filled with "Mass Production Challenges" and "Hyper-NA Prospects," neither showed surprise. It was as if they had already anticipated she would not stop moving.
"I knew you wouldn't stay idle," Mozi said, shaking his head with a tone of familiar teasing.
Xiuxiu put down the electronic pen, turned around, her face glowing with a mix of fatigue and excitement. "Can't stop. There are too many peaks ahead to climb." She pointed at the board. "Mass production is the immediate hard battle; Hyper-NA is the future dream. Both need attention now."
Mozi approached the board, his eyes scanning those keywords representing a new round of technological breakthrough efforts and future exploratory directions, revealing appreciation and understanding. He clearly knew that advancing these directions meant astronomical funding investments and long-term strategic patience.
Yue'er was more interested in concepts like "Hyper-NA" and "BEUV." She softly asked, "A shorter wavelength means exponentially higher demands on optical materials, right? Would this involve very fundamental physics and materials science problems?"
"Exactly," Xiuxiu nodded. "It might require entirely new material systems, even entirely new theoretical models to guide. This is no longer purely an engineering problem; it needs strong support from basic science."
The trio's gazes met before the board, an intangibletacit understanding flowing through the air. They all realized that as technological exploration deepened, the synergy among the three of them would become increasingly important, increasingly requiring something beyond the current loose model based on personal trust and temporary projects.
Xiuxiu took a deep breath and proposed an idea that had been brewing in her heart for a long time—an idea far grander and more fundamental than planning specific technical routes.
"Mozi, Sister Yue'er," her voice grew solemn. "I've been thinking: our current collaboration model, though efficient, seems…not solid and systematic enough. When R&D hits a snag, I come to Sister Yue'er for help; when funding hits a bottleneck, Mozi, you provide support; when theory needs validation, I can offer a platform. But this 'problem-arises-solve-problem' approach—could it become more forward-looking and systematic?"
She paused, her eyes sweeping over them, then continued: "I'm wondering if we could…establish a physical 'Stringlight Laboratory'?"
"This laboratory would not be confined merely to lithography technology, nor merely to mathematical theory or capital operations. It would be an interdisciplinary, deeply integrated, open platform facing the most cutting-edge basic science and disruptive technology exploration," Xiuxiu's speech accelerated, her eyes gleaming with idealistic light. "It would center on the three of us but recruit top scientists, engineers, and thinkers globally. Here, mathematicians couldfirsthand access to engineering practice's most profound mathematical problems; engineers could conceive next-generation technologies based on the latest theoretical breakthroughs; and capital would no longer be an external supporter but embedded within the laboratory as part of the 'strategic brain' responsible for identifying directions, allocating resources, and bearing risks."
"We would institutionalize our current 'capital-technology-theory' synergy model. Establish joint research projects, form interdisciplinary teams, share data and facilities, even set up an internal 'Future Technology Fund,' jointly decided by us, invested in long-term explorations that are high-risk, high-reward, potentially game-changing—like…the new materials basic research needed for Hyper-NA, or exploration of the more essential mathematical structure behind Sister Yue'er's PNP problem."
This vision plunged both Mozi and Yue'er into contemplation.
Mozi saw an opportunity to embed capital power more deeply and forward-looking into the innovation chain, a cradle capable of systematically nurturing future industry "nuclear weapons," perfectly aligning with his philosophy of "unity of knowledge and action," using capital to shape the future.
Yue'er saw a perfect arena where her highly abstract mathematical theories could find the most vivid, challenging real-world problems as touchstones, an academic sanctuary capable of fostering truly interdisciplinary breakthroughs.
"Institutionalizing the synergy model…" Mozi slowly repeated the phrase, a gleam in his eyes. "This could minimize communication costs, form innovativesynergy, and…could beinheritance. Even if the three of us are no longer here in the future, this model could continue operating."
Yue'er nodded gently. "This is a truly beautiful vision. Theory, technology, capital engaging in deep dialogue within anphysical framework—this might indeed give birth to new knowledge and technologies none of us alone could imagine."
Their gazes met again, this time filled with excitement and resolve tojointly create anew model.
"Then," Xiuxiu's face broke into a brilliant, powerful smile. "Let's startspecific planning how this 'Stringlight Laboratory' should be built."
The new beginning pointed not merely toward newer technological goals but toward the birth of a more profound, more systematic collaborative innovation model. On this blueprint jointly drawn by the three of them, technologicalexpedition and institutional innovation intertwined like a double helix, jointlypointing toward that future filled with infinite possibilities. And they were thefounders and navigators of this grand journey.