Chapter 704: Give Me 15 Months to Master the 28nm Process! The Best Way to Respect Talent

Jingzhao Prefect, Yunxiu Studio.

Chen Yansen took off his jacket and hung it on a nearby coat rack, leaving him in just a navy-blue shirt.

He picked up the teapot and personally poured a cup of hot tea for both Hu Ruihui and Liang Jingsong, then waved to the server outside the door.

The server immediately understood, instructing the kitchen to begin sending out the dishes while bringing in two bottles of fine wine.

“Mr. Chen, thank you,” Liang Jingsong replied quickly.

At this point, Liang Jingsong finally understood: Chen Yansen’s chip manufacturing company wasn’t even off the ground yet. Aside from the intention to create one, it didn’t even have a name.

He wanted to refuse, unwilling to waste his time in the country.

In his view, even if he couldn’t go to Mountain Star or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, he could always go to GlobalFoundries or United Microelectronics Corporation.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t find a job; he just wanted to pick a company with good compensation and great prospects.

But Chen Yansen’s venture… the company hadn’t even been established. How was he supposed to choose that?

As Liang Jingsong pondered, an unconscious look of resistance appeared on his face.

Chen Yansen glanced at him and said nonchalantly, “Mr. Liang, if you’re willing to join, I can offer an annual salary of 5 million. Twenty percent of that will be a performance bonus, and thirty percent will be stock options.

“For the first three years, your salary will increase by no less than 10% annually. After three years of employment, even if the company hasn’t gone public, you can cash out your options with me at any time for their contractual value.”

“Five million Hua Yuan?” Liang Jingsong asked instinctively.

“US Dollars.” Chen Yansen took a sip of his tea and looked at him with a smile.

‘How should you show respect to talented people?’

‘Be humble and courteous?’

‘Inquire after their well-being?’

‘Pay them three house calls?’

‘That’s all fucking bullshit!’

‘You just hit them with money until they’re stunned!’

‘Stun them with cash first; talk later!’

Liang Jingsong sucked in a sharp breath. He wanted to refuse, but the offer was just too good.

As far as he knew, the total annual compensation package for Kwon Oh-hyun, the president of Mountain Star Electronics’ semiconductor division, was 4 million US Dollars at most.

Meanwhile, his own total annual salary as CTO at Mountain Star Electronics was only 2.8 million US Dollars, and after excluding stock incentives, his pre-tax income was less than 2 million US Dollars.

Chen Yansen was practically doubling his pay!

‘So audacious, so rich!’

Liang Jingsong swallowed hard.

Previously, when he heard Chen Yansen talk about investing 30 billion over three years, he had thought the man was just bragging. But reeling from the impact of a 5 million US Dollar salary, he couldn’t help but believe him a little.

‘Maybe I could just use this as a transitional job for a couple of years?’

Liang Jingsong had been about to open his mouth to refuse, but now he couldn’t bring himself to say the words.

He was one of the world’s top electronics engineers and had worked his entire life in the semiconductor industry, yet no one had ever offered him an annual salary of 5 million US Dollars.

‘A true talent scout! A kindred spirit!’

For a moment, only those two phrases echoed in Liang Jingsong’s mind.

Sitting to the side, Hu Ruihui was inwardly astonished. Given his status, a mere 5 million US Dollar salary wasn’t enough to move him. What truly shocked him was how ‘respectful’ Chen Yansen was toward top technical talent.

Before Liang Jingsong could even state his demands, he had slapped down a 5 million US Dollar salary offer.

If it had been Liu Xunfeng from Huaxin International, an offer of 2 million US Dollars would have been considered impressive.

“Mr. Chen, the equipment, raw materials, and chemical reagents needed for chip manufacturing are incredibly expensive. To be frank…”

Liang Jingsong paused, about to speak slowly after a moment of deliberation, but Chen Yansen cut him off.

“Is 30 billion not enough? I can increase it to 50 billion, or even 80 billion. Oh, right, I forgot to tell you, Mr. Liang. Your position will be co-CEO. Besides myself, I guarantee I won’t add another one within three years, and you’ll have the final say in decisions.”

This—!

Liang Jingsong opened his mouth, a warmth spreading through his chest, unsure of what to say.

A thousand words from anyone else couldn’t compare to the direct impact of a top leadership position and a 5 million US Dollar salary.

‘A 10% raise every year… that’s a minimum of 6 million US Dollars after three years!’

‘Higher than the income of the top executive at Mountain Star Electronics.’

“Does Mr. Chen intend to start with the 28-nanometer process node?” Liang Jingsong asked thirty seconds later, having composed himself and adopted a serious expression.

“More or less. I know that TSMC and Mountain Star have mastered the 14-nanometer production process, but their yield rates are very low—not even 10%. So, for the next two to three years, the 28-nanometer process will remain top-tier in the industry,” Chen Yansen replied with a noncommittal shrug.

He also wanted to jump from 28-nanometer to 14-nanometer, but reality didn’t permit it.

First, he could only acquire an NXT:1950i DUV lithography machine at present. With single-patterning exposure, 28-nanometers was the absolute limit.

As for more advanced DUV or EUV Lithography Machines, ASML wouldn’t dare sell them due to sanctions.

Second, the supporting equipment and process flows couldn’t keep up.

Liang Jingsong’s technological roadmap planning skills were born from his time at TSMC and Mountain Star. Since even those two companies were currently stuck at the 14-nanometer threshold, Liang Jingsong naturally didn’t have the ability to achieve it overnight.

Therefore, 14-nanometer was the dream, and 28-nanometer was the reality.

“Mr. Chen, my idea is to avoid head-on competition and leverage the mature ecosystem. We should abandon Poly-SiON technology and focus on HKMG. We can recruit 28-nanometer process integration engineers from TSMC and Mountain Star, with a focus on poaching team members who have participated in the mass production of HKMG,” Liang Jingsong replied, laying out his thoughts with perfect clarity.

Both HKMG and Poly-SiON are crystalline silicon gate technologies in the 28-nanometer space. However, HKMG uses a high-k dielectric material to replace the traditional silicon dioxide gate oxide layer, while also using a metal gate instead of a polysilicon gate.

This effectively reduces gate leakage and increases the transistor’s capacitance, allowing the chip to operate at lower power consumption and improving transistor performance.

Testing has shown that the 28-nanometer HKMG process can improve performance by 30% and reduce power consumption by 50%.