"Chip Youth" who grew up with "China Chip"
Author: Li Danyang, a reporter from this newspaper, Yin Zehao, a trainee reporter of this newspaper, "Guangming Daily" (August 02, 2022 Version 12)
【Go to Xintiandi in the New Era·“Core Youth” of Youth Employment】
In a tiny place the size of a fingernail, the layout of hundreds of millions of transistors and several kilometers of wires is as difficult as building a high-rise building on a foundation the size of one ten-thousandth the diameter of a human hair—so high Chips (semiconductor components containing integrated circuits), the culmination of sophisticated technology, are the "heart" of most modern electronic products and emerging technologies, and are also the focus of current global high-tech competitions.
The high-end chip design and manufacturing talents who "build high-rise buildings on the hairline" are the key to this contest.
Since 2014, my country's integrated circuit industry has continuously maintained a compound growth rate of about 20% per year, forming a huge talent gap. In addition to the impact of the "lack of cores" in the global industry, "the domestic chip industry urgently needs a large number of aspect".
Experts said that from chip design, manufacturing, packaging and testing, to the supporting materials, equipment and applications, there is "urgent need for high-quality engineers with strong scientific research business and front-line work experience, as well as industrial scientists with forward-looking vision and understanding. Investors in the chip industry".
In recent years, a group of young people have gained real experience in tackling domestic chip "stuck neck" technology and have grown rapidly.
They are a new generation of "chip youth" who have grown up with "China Chip", and they are ready - "standing on the shoulders of predecessors and completing the historical mission of Chinese chip from following to surpassing."
On the road of science and technology creating "core", "head iron" is useful
To innovate, sometimes you have to trial and error.
But when it comes to chip manufacturing, trial and error is expensive.
From design to mass production, the chip has to go through the key "tape-out", that is, etching on the wafer according to the design drawings, to check whether each process step is feasible and whether the circuit has the required performance and functions.
If the tape-out is successful, the chip can be mass-produced accordingly. Otherwise, it is necessary to find out the reason and optimize the design again.
In the meantime, it usually goes through more than 1,000 processes, which last for three months and cost a lot.
As a chip designer, Jia Chen, a senior engineer at the 23rd Institute of the Second Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology of China and a post-90s youth, has a deep understanding of the importance of tape-out.
"In order to maintain the success rate of the tape-out, we can only pursue the ultimate in design, repeatedly revising and testing, without missing a single detail." He said.
Once, Jia Chen's team designed a chip that performed normally in several actual tests, but failed under low temperature conditions.
Although it is an occasional failure, everyone has already "alarm bells" in their hearts, and they act quickly to check the design hidden dangers one by one component and line by line.
Small chips, the precision is like a miniature version of the city, countless nano-scale components are "houses everywhere", and the circuit lines are "horizontal and horizontal". The difficulty of finding faults here can be imagined.
But they did not shy away from difficulties, tried their best to actively eliminate obstacles, and finally found the hidden danger.
Not only that, a device that was found to be prone to failure at low temperature became the key to the team's breakthrough in the process.
"To innovate, it depends on your 'head iron'." When summarizing his experience, Jia Chen used the word "active" many times, because "it is impossible to passively wait for it to disappear when encountering difficulties. If you have a few heads and take the initiative to meet them, you may be able to open up a path of innovation.”
Taking the initiative to attack is the answer of Jia Chen, and it is also the answer of the Chinese chip people.
As Ni Guangnan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, pointed out: "In the past, we hoped to solve problems in a more convenient way. Practice has proved that core technology cannot be bought. The shortcomings of China's chip technology and industry ultimately require Chinese people to innovate steadfastly. to solve it."
Relying on the "head iron" attitude of not escaping and not giving up, in recent years, Chinese researchers have worked hard to catch up, and a number of domestic chips have begun to emerge.
"We are more gratified to see that the fighting spirit of independent innovation can be passed on to this generation of young people." The person in charge of the radar core research and development team of the Second Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology of China said, "The development of 'China core' depends on It is these 'core youths' who are down-to-earth and look up to the stars."
Science and technology for good, is the meaning of creating a craftsman "core"
In the summer of 2010, at a hospital in Beijing, Wu Ying, who had been waiting for a long time, was feeling uneasy.
Wu Ying is a hearing-impaired person, and her biggest expectation for her next generation is to have normal hearing and study and live like other children.
"235 heterozygous, audiology test is normal." Wu Ying cried with joy when she saw the result!
At this time, the person he wanted to thank most was Zhang Guanbin, a post-80s researcher, the main developer of the genetic diagnosis chip system for hereditary deafness.
It used to be a difficult problem to detect the genes of hereditary deafness in newborns.
And Zhang Guanbin made the impossible possible with a small biochip.
After graduating from Tsinghua University, majoring in mechanical engineering and automation, Zhang Guanbin joined the National Engineering Research Center for Biochips in Beijing to pursue a doctoral degree and engaged in biomedical research.
At that time, the gene chip diagnostic technology for adult deafness was relatively mature.
"Thank you for your chip technology for helping me find the cause of deafness, but can I give birth to a healthy child?" Zhang Guanbin heard the lament of a deaf patient during a clinical experiment during his Ph.D.
Zhang Guanbin couldn't calm down for a long time: "Chip technology can detect deafness genes in adults, but the field of newborn detection is blank, which may make many children with hearing impairment lose the opportunity for early intervention!"
Starting from scratch, head towards that blank area to study the genetic diagnosis chip system for newborn hereditary deafness!
Zhang Guanbin and his team quickly encountered a problem: how to connect the magnetic beads that recognize gene sequences to the chip through probes?
The magnetic beads are measured in micrometers, and the probes are only 6.8 nanometers long.
Tossing and turning, sleepless nights.
One day on his way to work, he accidentally observed a caterpillar clinging to the stalk of a green plant by the roadside, wriggling and crawling upwards.
Inspiration suddenly burst out at this time: "The caterpillar's feet are so small, but it can attach its huge body tightly to the plant. Why? Because it has enough feet. Maybe the density of the probes can be increased to achieve connect!"
After several attempts, the problem of connecting the magnetic beads to the chip was finally solved.
In 2018, the hereditary deafness diagnostic chip system won the second prize of the National Technology Invention Award.
In November 2021, the number of newborns who received genetic screening for hereditary deafness exceeded 5 million, directly preventing more than 130,000 subjects and family members from being deaf due to improper use of drugs.
At present, the application of biochip technology in my country has entered the medical field, especially in the screening, detection and medical intervention of hereditary deafness, leading many countries and regions in the world.
Chips soaked with the sweat and ingenuity of "Core Youth" carry people's hopes for a better life.
"I feel love, hope and warmth when the child's parents hold my hand. Isn't that what science is all about?" Zhang Guanbin said.
From catching up to creating, believe in yourself, believe in "China Core"
"Young man, what's the weather outside?" The corridor of the Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, was full of students waiting for a postgraduate interview. A middle-aged man suddenly came over and asked Chen Yunji such a sentence, putting his mind on preparing for the interview. To "ask Meng".
After returning to his senses, he replied, "It's sunny."
"Next, Chen Yunji." He pushed open the door of the examination room, only to find the middle-aged man sitting on the interviewer's seat.
It turned out that this was Professor Hu Weiwu, an expert in the field of domestic chips, and Chen Yunji's later mentor.
Professor Hu Weiwu asked the interviewee the reason for the weather, but Chen Yunji only found out later.
Hu Weiwu said: "At that time, I didn't leave the institute for a whole week, so I wanted to ask about the weather outside."
This unexpected answer deeply moved Chen Yunji.
The spirit of self-forgetfulness has been passed down between master and apprentice.
In the past ten years, Chen Yunji has been deeply cultivating in the field of domestic chips under the leadership of his mentor.
In 2008, 25-year-old Dr. Chen Yunji became one of the main architects of Loongson-3 after graduation.
At the age of 29, he became a doctoral supervisor at the Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
"Go to the no-man's-land." With the deepening of scientific research, the voice in Chen Yunji's mind became louder and louder.
Most of the previous work was "catch-up". Although some achievements filled the gaps in related fields in China, they were still competing with international chip researchers on the same track.
What Chen Yunji wants to do is to "create" a new track and make China the leader.
Therefore, he turned his research field to the intersection of artificial intelligence and chip design.
Navigating a new path is no easy task, not to mention that research in the field of artificial intelligence was just starting at that time, and the prospects were unknown.
Chen Yunji and his students have done a lot of research, but there are few results. Even the most cutting-edge international conferences lack relevant papers.
Gradually, some students want to retreat, and some colleagues also think that there is no such way.
Chen Yunji didn't believe it!
At that time, the basic laws of machine learning calculation, memory access and communication were not clear, and problems emerged one after another. He still encouraged everyone: "With the solid foundation laid during the Loongson project, calculate slowly, and you can always figure it out."
Just as his mentor had done, Chen Yunji moved the bed into the research institute and devoted himself to research.
After several years of hard work, the first deep learning processor came out, which is the world's first deep learning processor chip.
Persevere, let Chen Yunji keep the clouds open and see the moon.
In 2021, Chen Yunji's "New Paradigm of Deep Learning Processor Architecture" won the second prize of the 2020 National Natural Science Award.
"From 'catching up' to 'creating', it cannot be achieved in an instant. It takes generations of people who have scientific ideals and can sit on the bench to do it for a long time." Chen Yunji said, the more important thing is to believe in yourself, I believe that we can create our own "Chinese core" in our hands.
(Reporter Li Danyang of this newspaper, Yin Zehao, a trainee reporter of this newspaper)
(Support for the topic selection of this issue: Zhan Yuan)