A key project in Hunan Province and my country's first pressure-sensitive sensor chip production line with completely independent intellectual property rights was successfully put into operation in Liuyang High-tech Zone a year ago. During the Chinese New Year, including New Year's Eve, everyone is still fighting on the front line of production.

The dream 12 years ago has finally come true today

As a key project in Hunan Province, on January 16, my country's first pressure-sensitive sensor chip production line with completely independent intellectual property rights was successfully launched in Liuyang High-tech Zone. In the early morning of February 10, the reporter rushed to Liuyang to visit the pressure-sensitive sensor chip production workshop.

At the entrance of the workshop, we were greeted by Professor Wang Guoqiu, a PhD supervisor from the School of Mathematics and Statistics, Hunan Normal University, who is also the chairman of Hunan Qitai Sensing Technology Co., Ltd.

He smiled and said: "Reporter Xu, when you interviewed me 12 years ago, I said that I would build a chip production line. Today this dream has come true.

Work overtime on New Year's Eve without stopping

On New Year's Eve, Wang Guoqiu brought more than 10 engineers from the company to the front line of pressure-sensitive sensor chip production. "Although the line is successfully connected, the product is being tested and the work cannot be interrupted. Everyone is working hard on New Year's Eve."

After two changes and cleaning, the reporter entered the ultra-clean workshop of Qitai Sensing Internet of Things Industrial Park. Yang Yan, the manager of the microelectronics department, "fully armed", took us to visit the process of chip manufacturing, metal base lamination, etching, Cleaning, developing, testing, etc. She stayed in the workshop every day and did not rest for a day.

Yang Yan is still very excited to work overtime every day. She said: "The pressure-sensitive sensor chip production line has been successfully completed. We are particularly fulfilled. Our team is working hard and hopes that the chip performance will be more stable and the parameters will be better and better, so as to provide the market with A better product."

Qitai pressure-sensitive sensor chip is a functional chip made on a metal base, which directly converts force signals into electrical signals, and is widely used in force sensors such as traffic, fire protection, and water treatment. Currently, Wang Guoqiu's team has declared 11 invention patents and 6 utility model and design patents.

According to Wang Guoqiu, after the current pressure-sensitive sensor chip production line is put into operation, there will still be a three-month yield ramp-up period. If the yield rate reaches more than 90%, mass production can be achieved. "After production, it has to go through more than 3 months of testing to ensure that there is no quality problem. Mass production and sales will be possible in August this year."

Persevere and overcome key problems

In the integrated circuit industry, the six parts of equipment, materials, design, production, testing, and packaging constitute the upstream and downstream industrial chain. Enterprises have their own responsibilities for coordinated development, and an enterprise generally only does one of them.

However, the pressure-sensitive sensor chip production line was completed and Wang Guoqiu led the team to persevere in research and development, breaking through one problem and one problem, and overcoming the problems of the entire chip production process. He proudly said: "The core technology, key processes and equipment, plant design, chip inspection, and packaging of the pressure-sensitive sensor chip production line are all independently completed by our team. As a chip designer, I don’t want anyone to get stuck in the chip production line. Neck."

The difficulty behind completing independent research and development is often anxious. Wang Guoqiu will not only take the lead in overcoming R&D technical problems, but also raise 120 million yuan in production line process research and development and equipment purchases.

In 2010, in the fourth year that Wang Guoqiu led the team to develop pressure-sensitive sensor chips, the company experienced a serious financial crisis. In order to repay the debt, he took out all the more than 4 million yuan he had accumulated, and went around raising funds to tide over the difficulties. He didn't dare to let his family know about this matter.

R&D, financing, and development are all things that make people anxious. When everything came down, Wang Guoqiu bluntly said several times that he had faced collapse and wanted to give up. Because after 16 years in the military, I always have a sense of mission and strong ability to withstand pressure. I give up for 3 days each time, and I must continue to work hard.

Perseverance will eventually succeed. Liuyang High-tech Zone supports the construction of factories, and Guangzhou Chongkai Fund invested 80 million yuan to purchase equipment. Many people were moved by Wang Guoqiu's spirit, invested and contributed, and finally built the chip production line he dreamed of.

Traffic and fire protection will be the main markets for pressure-sensitive sensor chips

According to Wang Guoqiu, it is estimated that 500,000 pressure-sensitive sensor chips will be produced this year. After being packaged into sensors, the annual output value will exceed 500 million yuan. In the second half of this year, the second phase will also start construction. After completion, it will achieve an annual output of 20 million pressure-sensitive sensor chips. After being packaged into sensors, the annual output value will exceed 15 billion yuan.

The pressure-sensitive sensor chip market is mainly in four major areas: One is the transportation field, including automobiles and rail transit. The pressure-sensitive sensor chip for the body stabilization system developed by Qitai can be assembled in a car instead of imported. The second is smart city. The third is oil and gas and petrochemicals. The fourth is special industries.

The reporter saw that in the lobby of Qitai Company, there were fire hydrants and fire water pressure monitoring systems, and the data was updated on the big screen in real time. A pressure-sensitive sensor chip is placed in the fire hydrant, and the water storage and water pressure in the fire hydrant can be fed back to the fire department and community owners in real time. Among the currently planned markets, transportation and smart cities will be the two main markets.

Media link: http://hnrb.voc.com.cn/hnrb_epaper/html/2019-02/15/content_1371859.htm?div=-1