Chinese state media CCTV recently reported that Ye Hui, a top technician at the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation’s 699th Factory, possesses top-notch grinding skills, capable of achieving “ultra-precision grinding” with a margin of 5 nanometers, thanks to his skilled hands.
The report quickly sparked a flurry of discussions, with Chinese netizens commenting, “Does this mean handcrafted chips are not far off? Is lithography technology about to break through?”
The report mentioned Ye Hui’s role in creating super-precise aerospace components. His challenge lies in grinding ultra-thin materials to the nanometer level. To prevent fingerprint impressions from affecting surface roughness, he even meticulously smoothed out the fingerprints.
The report pointed out that the surface roughness of the tantalum piece Ye Hui ground reaches a level of 5 nanometers, detectable only by special instruments.
Ye Hui also shared his secret, stating that practice makes perfect. When grinding high-precision parts, mastering a certain movement is like “just a flick of the wrist.” He said, “One hundred strokes are not as good as this one stroke. In the end, it’s all about this one stroke coming out!”
The report also emphasized, “Ye Hui has thus broken through the bottleneck of ultra-thin material ultra-precision grinding technology of this type, with precision far exceeding the top foreign level.”
This article has attracted a lot of attention from netizens, with many praising Ye Hui as a “master craftsman of the nation,” and some even saying that his skills are “more impressive than machines.”
At the same time, some netizens mentioned the mainland’s recent active development of chip technology, saying, “Doesn’t that mean we’re not far from handcrafted chips? Lithography technology is about to break through, isn’t it?” “Our chips are hammered out by hand!”
Apparently concerned about potential misunderstandings, CCTV specially explained in the comments section, “We can’t make chips by hand, we still rely on lithography machines. The master’s ‘skill tree’ isn’t just fully filled, but specializes in a certain field. Let’s have a brief explanation – Ye Master’s 5 nanometers refers to the surface roughness of the parts, while the lithography machine’s 5 nanometers is the actual width of the integrated circuit lines on the chip.”
The report has garnered significant attention, with the editor-in-chief particularly emphasizing that “handcrafting chips” is not feasible.