Materials research and development was a huge investment, but it also depended on who the investment was.
After tasting the benefits of the SG-1 wire, General Manager Sun had already made up his mind. He would never let go of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.
Since Manager Sun was willing to ask him for advice, Lu Zhou was happy to teach them.
In the grand scheme of things, it could help Chinese companies establish their core competitiveness in the global market.
From a practical point of view, this was profitable for Lu Zhou.
Take the SG-1 material as an example. Every centimeter of SG-1 wire produced by Baosheng Group included patent costs. Even though this income wasn't as lucrative as the lithium batteries, it was still quite significant.
Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "I don't know what to say about the future direction of your company. But since you already have an advantage in the production of carbon-based materials, why don't you consider expanding this advantage? "
General Manager Sun immediately had a serious look on his face.
"Oh? What do you think, Professor Lu? "
"Nothing much." Lu Zhou smiled and paused for a second before he said, "It's just that I heard that a research team at the University of California used an interesting method to successfully synthesize graphene nanoribbons that are only 1 nanometer wide and 50 nanometers long in the laboratory. This research has attracted the interest of IBM, and it is widely expected to be used in the production of next-generation carbon-based chips. "
Everyone knew that 7 nanometers was the physical limit of silicon-based transistors. Once the transistor was smaller than 7 nanometers, the behavior of electrons would be limited by quantum uncertainty. This would result in a quantum tunneling effect that would allow electrons to pass through an impossible "wall". In this case, silicon-based transistors would become unreliable, and the upgrade of chip manufacturing technology would face a huge challenge.
In order to face this challenge, finding new materials to replace traditional silicon materials and producing smaller, better-performing electronic devices was the consensus of the industry and academia.
According to known research results, there were several technical routes that were currently considered feasible. There were already carbon nanotubes, molybdenum disulfide, black phosphorus, graphene, tungsten diselenide, etc.
Because he was researching carbon nanomaterials, Lu Zhou was naturally more optimistic about the graphene technology.
In fact, this was indeed the case. Since the Mott insulator had been observed, graphene indeed had the potential to be used as a semiconductor material in electronic devices.
A.I. Chip …
Hearing Lu Zhou's words, Manager Sun couldn't help but have a headache.
Although this thigh was thick enough, it was quite troublesome to keep jumping into the pit.
"Professor Lu … wouldn't be suggesting that we jump into the pit that is the chip, right?"
When Lu Zhou saw the awkward expression on Manager Sun's face, he laughed and said, "You're not an electronics company, so it's definitely unrealistic to ask you to develop chips. I just feel that since we've already completed the production of graphene materials that are a few thousand nanometers wide, why not try to challenge graphene nanoribbons that are a few nanometers wide? I know that these are two completely different technologies, but I think we have the ability to do it. "
Lu Zhou wasn't just joking.
When he was chatting with Professor Bawendi on the plane, he already had this plan in mind.
Of course, right now, the research was still focused on controllable nuclear fusion.
Not to mention that even if he was interested in carbon-based chips, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study didn't have any talents in this area.
I'll wait until after the controllable nuclear fusion project is over before thinking about this problem.
I'm sure by then, a lot of problems won't be problems anymore.
Manager Sun had a helpless smile on his face as he shook his head.
Graphene nanoribbons that are a few nanometers wide …
Easy for me to say.
That's all money …
…
The controllable nuclear fusion conference lasted for five days.
For Lu Zhou, these five days were quite rewarding.
In addition to the interesting lectures, the advanced technologies displayed by the major research institutes also greatly enriched his horizons.
Including the Tri-Alpha FRC device, he purchased at least US $40 million worth of equipment.
Compared to the microwave heating device, the function of the FRC device was to make the plasma heating a little faster and more stable. It wasn't a key technology, but it was still useful.
In addition to the non-critical components like the FRC device, Lu Zhou also purchased a critical component like the He3 atom probe.
Speaking of the He3 atom probe, one had to mention Professor Lazerson.
This former PPPL engineer had now stepped into the industry as a technician, and he was doing very well in the plasma physics community.
Because of his connections in the academic community, he knew better than anyone else what kind of experimental equipment scholars needed. He was able to expand the He3 atom probe technology.
At the closing dinner of the conference, while chatting with his old friend, Lu Zhou learned that Lazerson's business was getting bigger and bigger. Not only did he maintain close cooperation with more than 20 plasma research institutes, but he also became one of the suppliers of the ITER project.
Not only that, but the He3 atom probe technology had also been upgraded under his improvements. Now, the observation accuracy of high-density plasma had been significantly improved.
Speaking of which, when the He3 company was first established, Lu Zhou seemed to have invested a few million USD.
So, he was one of the shareholders of this company?
"I bet this is definitely one of the most successful investments you've ever made in your life." Professor Lazerson smiled and said, "That few million USD back then is worth at least a hundred million USD now. When the future of controllable nuclear fusion technology becomes clear, I plan on listing it on NASDAQ. You just have to wait and see how much money you make. "
Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Really? Good luck then. "
Professor Lazerson looked at Lu Zhou with surprise and said, "How come you're not excited at all?"
Lu Zhou had a helpless expression on his face as he said, "When you have so much money that you can't even spend it in your next life, even if someone suddenly tells you that they made a few hundred million, you'll still be expressionless. That's how I feel about money right now, I'm sure you can understand. "
Although compared to the billionaires on the Forbes list, his assets of a few hundred million USD were nothing. The problem was that his hundreds of millions of USD were all in cash, so the meaning was completely different.
Not to mention that Lu Zhou's consumption level wasn't high to begin with. Even though he spent a lot of money to establish the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, not only did he break even, but he also made a lot of money from patent fees.
Professor Lazerson stared at Lu Zhou for a long time.
After a while, he shook his head.
"No, I don't understand."
…
After the conference dinner ended, the group of people returned to their hotel rooms and began to pack their luggage.
Their flight back to China was tomorrow morning. In order to have more time before boarding the plane tomorrow, they naturally had to do some preparations in advance.
Lu Zhou found Fei Jingti and Dian Cili in the hotel hallway and spoke to them.
"Eight o 'clock tomorrow morning, you guys are going to board the plane with Professor Li Changxia. Don't be late."
Fei Jingti: "Okay, professor … Are you not coming back with us?"
Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.
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