Introduction: The Nomadic Tribe of the Silicon World
The semiconductor industry, the “industrial food” that supports modern digital civilization, has been imbued with globalization since its inception. The journey of a chip may begin with design blueprints in the United States, pass through wafer foundries in Taiwan, undergo packaging and testing in South Korea, and finally be embedded in core components of German cars or Chinese smartphones. Along this transcontinental industrial chain, there exists a unique group of “nomads”—they follow the demands of customers, the failures of equipment, and the opportunities in the market. Their suitcases are their mobile homes, airports and wafer fabs are their permanent residences, and “business trips” have long ceased to be an addition to work; they are the core gears that drive technology implementation and maintain industry operations.
In their suitcases, they always carry similar “survival codes”: yellowed passports stamped with visas from different countries, power adapters compatible with sockets around the world, and neatly folded anti-static suits that serve as “passports” to enter wafer fabs. The app list on their phones resembles an industrial map—travel apps record over 200 flights each year, global hotel booking software marks their frequent cities, and various wafer fab safety training certificates are keys to open customer doors. They have no fixed time zones; the working hours of their clients are their starting point. They also have no clear “hometowns”; the aroma of coffee in airport lounges and the white noise of hotel rooms are often more familiar than their own bedrooms.
Behind these busy figures lies a complex spectrum of emotions: the ultimate sense of achievement after overcoming technical challenges, the loneliness of being alone in a foreign land late at night, the tension of facing customer pressures, and the deep guilt of missing a child’s birthday or not being by a parent’s bedside. They are the “capillaries” of the semiconductor industry, measuring the distance between technology and market with their footsteps, and writing the epic of struggle in the silicon age with their perseverance.
Job Story 1: Application Engineer (AE) – The Glory and Loneliness of the “Firefighter”
Job Characteristics: The “Last Mile” Guardian Connecting Chips and Products
Application engineers act as “technical translators” between chip companies and customers, and they are also the “firefighters” who solve problems. When customers encounter failures while using chips in design or production, they must arrive on-site as quickly as possible—because a one-hour halt in a smartphone production line can result in millions of losses, and a failure in an automotive electronic module can delay an entire project. Their business trips have no fixed cycles; an urgent phone call can disrupt all plans, with destinations possibly being an electronics factory in Shenzhen, an automotive lab in Munich, or a consumer electronics park in India. Pressure and a sense of achievement coexist constantly.
Character Prototype: Zhang Wei, 35 years old, a senior AE at a major European and American chip company, holds a master’s degree in electronic engineering and has been in the industry for 8 years. His colleagues call him “Dr. Zhang,” not because of his degree, but because he can always find the key issues in a tangled mess of failures. His phone is never turned off, and his suitcase is always ready at the entrance, prepared for departure.
Story Case 1: An Urgent Call Next to a Birthday Cake
On a Friday evening in Shanghai, Zhang Wei’s dining table is adorned with a birthday cake hand-painted by his daughter, Duo Duo, with six candles reflecting the little girl’s expectant face. “Daddy, make a wish!” Duo Duo claps her hands and urges. Just as Zhang Wei closes his eyes, his phone rings urgently like an alarm—it’s an emergency call from a customer in Shenzhen.
On the other end of the line, the customer project manager’s voice is tinged with desperation: “Engineer Zhang, help! Your power management chip has collectively failed during testing of our new model, and the entire production line is down! Tomorrow is a critical milestone for mass production; if we can’t resolve this, our KPIs for the year will be ruined!”
Zhang Wei opens his eyes to see his daughter’s suddenly dimmed expression, and it feels like a needle has pricked his heart. He gently pats Duo Duo’s head and speaks softly, “Daddy has to go defeat a ‘technical monster’ and will bring you back a bigger cake, okay?” His wife has long been accustomed to such scenes and quietly gets up to help him retrieve his suitcase.
By 8 PM, Zhang Wei is already on a flight to Shenzhen. He opens his laptop and pulls up the failure data provided by the customer: the output voltage of the chip fluctuates beyond the threshold in high-temperature environments, but such issues have never appeared during lab tests. “It should be a system matching issue,” he thinks to himself.
At 1 AM, Zhang Wei enters the customer’s cleanroom. After donning an anti-static suit, gloves, and mask, he immediately connects with the customer’s FAE team to set up a temporary testing platform. The oscilloscope’s waveforms dance on the screen, and the logic analyzer’s data refreshes continuously as they check peripheral circuits, test under different temperature conditions, and replace batches of chips—time ticks away, with only the beeping of instruments and occasional exchanges breaking the silence in the workshop.
As dawn approaches, a detail catches Zhang Wei’s attention: the failure only occurs when using a certain brand of ceramic capacitors. He immediately retrieves the capacitor’s specifications and discovers that its equivalent series resistance (ESR) is higher than the design value, causing a slight timing deviation in the chip’s feedback loop, which is amplified under high temperatures. “Try replacing it with this model of capacitor!” he points to the parameters on the screen.
When the new capacitors are soldered in and the test data returns to normal, dawn breaks. The customer project manager excitedly grabs Zhang Wei’s hand, his voice hoarse yet strong: “Engineer Zhang, you are truly our savior!” Zhang Wei removes his mask, revealing bloodshot eyes, tired yet relieved. He steps outside the workshop, lights a cigarette, his fingers still trembling slightly from long hours of operating instruments. He pulls out his phone and sends a message to his wife: “The monster has been defeated; has Duo Duo eaten her cake? Give her a kiss for me.”
Story Case 2: The Low-Temperature Darkroom and Beer in Munich
Less than a week after returning from Shenzhen, Zhang Wei receives another assignment to Germany—an automotive Tier-1 supplier in Munich has discovered that their audio chip produces noise at -40°C during testing of the in-car entertainment system. “The reliability requirements for automotive electronics are the highest; it must be resolved on-site,” the leader’s tone leaves no room for doubt.
After a 12-hour flight, Zhang Wei arrives in Munich just as morning breaks. He skips the hotel and heads straight to the customer’s lab with his equipment. Upon entering the low-temperature testing darkroom, a chill hits him; the thermometer reads -45°C— to simulate extreme conditions, the customer has lowered the testing temperature by 5 degrees. Zhang Wei tightens his coat and takes the testing report handed to him by a German engineer, filled with dense German text and data.
“We suspect the chip’s audio amplifier is malfunctioning,” the German engineer Thomas asserts, pointing to the noise on the oscilloscope. Zhang Wei shakes his head: “If it were an amplifier failure, there would also be issues at room temperature; it’s more likely an external circuit matching issue.” He suggests changing the PCB stack design, but Thomas firmly opposes: “Our PCB design meets industry standards; it cannot be faulty!”
For the next three days, the two engage in a “tug-of-war.” Zhang Wei uses simulation software to model the performance of different stack structures at low temperatures, while Thomas insists on repeatedly testing according to the original design. On the fourth day, Zhang Wei discovers that changing a certain software register configuration significantly reduces the noise phenomenon. “Look, this shows we can bypass the hardware’s temperature sensitivity through software optimization,” he tells Thomas, pointing at the screen.
Thomas silently studies the data, and after a long pause, he extends his hand: “You were right, Zhang. I was too stubborn.” That evening, Thomas takes Zhang Wei to a traditional Munich beer house. Under the dim lights, a large mug of dark beer bubbles, and Zhang Wei takes a big sip, the malt aroma dispelling days of fatigue. “In China, we celebrate with hot pot after solving problems,” he says with a smile. Thomas shrugs: “Beer and sausages are the best celebration.”
This business trip not only resolved the customer’s issue, but Zhang Wei also compiled the entire case into a technical document, prompting the company to update the design specifications for the next generation of audio chips—adding software adaptive features for low-temperature environments. When he returns to Shanghai smelling of beer, his suitcase now contains a bottle of dark beer gifted by Thomas, which he wants to share with his wife and daughter as a “victory souvenir” from abroad.
Character Arc: From Technical Geek to Solution Expert
After 8 years as an AE, Zhang Wei has transformed from a data-obsessed technical geek into a solution expert who can solve complex problems while understanding customer business needs. He remembers his first business trip, where he nervously misquoted parameters in front of a client and cried alone in his hotel room afterward; now, regardless of how urgent the failure or how difficult the client, he remains calm.
But the cost of growth is the debt to his family. On the first day of his daughter Duo Duo’s kindergarten, he was on a business trip in Shenzhen; during his wife’s appendicitis surgery, he was in Germany debugging equipment. During a video call, Duo Duo asked, “Daddy, do you not like me anymore since you never come home?” Zhang Wei’s tears fell instantly. He began to learn to make up for lost time during business trips—such as recording storytelling videos in advance for his wife to play for Duo Duo every day; buying local small gifts at airports to surprise his family when he returns. “This job allows me to realize my self-worth, but my family’s understanding is my greatest support,” he says.
Job Story 2: Field Service Engineer (FSE) – The “Guardian” in the Wafer Fab
Job Characteristics: The “Surgeon” of Precision Equipment
Semi-conductor equipment is the “weapon” for chip manufacturing, with an etching machine or lithography machine often valued at over ten million dollars, and field service engineers are the guardians of these “weapons.” Their work locations are primarily customer wafer fabs (Fabs), where they either stay long-term for equipment maintenance or rush to assist when equipment alarms. Entering a Fab requires strict cleanroom procedures, with a constant temperature and humidity, and noise levels, facing complex mechanical structures and precision control systems daily. Their business trips often last for months, and loneliness is the norm, but the stable operation of equipment is their badge of honor.
Character Prototype: Li Qiang, 40 years old, an FSE at a US semiconductor equipment company, with a background in mechanical engineering and 15 years of industry experience. He is calm and speaks slowly but precisely, excelling at identifying “pathologies” in complex equipment failures. Due to years of working in cleanrooms, his hands bear many small scratches—marks from being cut by precision parts during disassembly.
Story Case 1: The 20-Hour Battle at TSMC’s Nanjing Plant
“Engineer Li, the etching machine at TSMC’s Nanjing plant has gone down, with abnormal chamber pressure, and the customer is pressing for a solution!” On a Sunday morning, Li Qiang was at home in Xiamen helping his son with homework when the company’s urgent call shattered the weekend tranquility. He glanced at the fault code on his phone and felt a jolt—this is a typical symptom of a radio frequency power module failure, and replacing this module would take at least 12 hours.
“Dad, are you leaving again?” His 10-year-old son looks up from his homework, disappointment in his eyes. Li Qiang pats his son’s head: “The ‘big machine’ at the factory is broken, and Dad needs to go fix it; otherwise, we won’t be able to make phones.” His wife has already packed his cleanroom suit and tool kit, handing him a thermos: “It has your favorite tea eggs inside; eat on the way.”
At 3 PM, Li Qiang arrives at TSMC’s Nanjing plant. After a series of cleanroom procedures including showering, changing clothes, and air showering, he enters the etching workshop of Fab 15. The massive equipment stands in the clean room, with red alarm signals flashing on the screen. The customer equipment manager, Engineer Chen, approaches with a serious expression: “Engineer Li, this equipment is responsible for the etching process of 28nm logic chips; every hour of downtime costs us hundreds of thousands.”
Li Qiang nods, opens his tool kit, and begins to disassemble the equipment’s protective cover. The radio frequency power module is located deep inside the equipment, requiring the removal of several precision parts, during which no dust can fall into the chamber—otherwise, the entire chamber would need to be cleaned again, delaying the process by at least a day. He dons a magnifying glass and uses a special screwdriver to carefully unscrew the screws, sweat trickling down his face, but he dares not wipe it—his gloves may have tiny particles on them.
At 10 PM, the faulty module is finally removed. Li Qiang skips dinner and immediately installs the new module, followed by calibration and debugging. He focuses on the parameters on the screen, adjusting power and matching until the chamber pressure returns to normal and the etching rate stabilizes within the standard range. When the equipment restarts and the wafers begin to transfer normally, dawn breaks outside.
Engineer Chen pats Li Qiang on the shoulder, handing him a bottle of water: “Engineer Li, thank you; we really owe you this time.” Li Qiang takes a sip of water, feeling his throat dry and sore. Stepping out of the Fab, the sunlight hits him, and he suddenly feels a bit disoriented—after spending 20 hours in a constant temperature and humidity environment, he finds it hard to adapt to the outside temperature. He pulls out his phone and sends a photo of the equipment running normally to his wife: “All done; I can go home tomorrow.”
Story Case 2: Three Months of “Exile” at Samsung in Korea
At the beginning of last year, Li Qiang was dispatched by the company to Samsung Electronics’ Pyeongtaek plant in Korea to install and debug a new generation of thin-film deposition equipment for three months. This was his first long-term assignment abroad, and before he left, his wife packed a box full of hometown spices for him: “Korean food is bland; you won’t be used to it, so cook for yourself.”
The pace at Samsung’s plant is astonishingly fast. Every morning at 7 AM, Li Qiang meets with the Korean engineering team to confirm the installation progress for the day; he enters the Fab at 8 AM and works until 10 PM. The dedication of the Korean engineers impresses him—they rarely take weekends off, voluntarily working overtime as long as the equipment debugging is not complete. Once, to tackle a calibration issue, the entire team worked continuously for 36 hours, resting only for half an hour in the break room outside the workshop.
The language barrier is the biggest challenge. Although Li Qiang knows some basic Korean, he still needs translation software for technical terms. Once, he and Korean engineer Kim Min-cheol had a disagreement over a parameter understanding, and they spent a long time gesturing over the drawings before finally clarifying in English. “Chinese engineers are very meticulous,” Kim Min-cheol later told him, “you caught a small error we overlooked.”
In his spare time, Li Qiang’s greatest joy is cooking in his dorm. Using the spices his wife packed, he makes braised pork and stir-fried vegetables, often attracting Korean colleagues to “join him for a meal.” “Engineer Li, your cooking is better than Korean restaurants!” Kim Min-cheol gives a thumbs up while eating. On weekends, he visits nearby Chinese restaurants, where a steaming bowl of beef noodles can alleviate his homesickness.
Three months later, the equipment successfully passes inspection, and Samsung awards Li Qiang a “Outstanding Partner” certificate. On the day he leaves Korea, Kim Min-cheol and his colleagues come to see him off, and his suitcase is stuffed with kimchi, seaweed, and Korean snacks they gifted him. “Next time you come to Korea, I’ll treat you to ginseng chicken soup,” Kim Min-cheol hugs him tightly. As the plane takes off, Li Qiang looks out at the shrinking city below, feeling both reluctant and excited—he can finally go home to be with his family.
Character Arc: The Silent Pillar and Inner Softness
In his 15 years as an FSE, Li Qiang has participated in the installation and maintenance of hundreds of semiconductor devices, from 200mm wafer equipment to 300mm equipment, witnessing the rise of China’s semiconductor manufacturing. Customers are eager to work with him because he is “meticulous, reliable, and can handle pressure,” but few know how much stress he feels every time equipment alarms go off—after all, the value of a single piece of equipment is equivalent to several houses.
Long-term business trips have made him a man of few words, but in front of his family, he always tries to show his gentle side. Every time he returns home, he tells his son stories from the wafer fab, teaching him about different equipment; he takes on household chores to let his wife rest. “This job is tough, but seeing the equipment I maintain produce China’s own chips makes it all worthwhile,” he says.
Job Story 3: Technical Sales / Account Manager – The “Hunter” with Solutions
Job Characteristics: A “Cross-Disciplinary Player” in Technology and Business
Technical sales is not just about “selling chips”; it involves bringing solutions to the customer’s door. They must understand technology, able to discuss architecture and parameters with the customer’s engineers; they also need to understand business, able to discern customer needs and market trends to secure orders for the company. Their travel rhythm is “high-frequency short-haul”—they might visit a smartphone customer in Shenzhen on Monday, meet with a new energy manufacturer in Ningde on Tuesday, return to Beijing for a meeting on Wednesday, and fly to Shanghai for an exhibition on Thursday. Their bags are always packed with laptops, PPTs, and product manuals, with planes and high-speed trains serving as their mobile offices, and the moment they sign an order is the best reward for all their travels.
Character Prototype: Wang Wei, 33 years old, sales director at a domestic listed chip company, graduated in electronic information engineering, and rose from sales assistant to director in 5 years. She dresses sharply, speaks quickly but logically, able to articulate well in technical seminars and handle herself gracefully at business dinners. Her colleagues say she has a “tenacious spirit that refuses to lose.”
Story Case 1: The “Airborne Man” Chasing Customers
In the second half of last year, Wang Wei’s key task was to conquer two major new energy customers, BYD and CATL—if the company’s MCU chips and power management chips could enter their supply chains, sales would increase by at least 30%. From that moment on, she became the “airborne man.”
On Monday morning, Wang Wei attends a production and sales coordination meeting at the Beijing headquarters to confirm the month’s product inventory and delivery cycles; in the afternoon, she flies to Shenzhen with the technical team, arriving at BYD’s R&D center early the next morning. “Engineer Li, this is our optimized MCU chip for the BMS system of electric vehicles, with a 20% increase in computing power and a 15% reduction in power consumption,” she opens her laptop and skillfully demonstrates the product’s technical advantages. Engineer Li from BYD is a marathon enthusiast, and Wang Wei takes the opportunity to chat with him about recent marathon events, lightening the atmosphere.
On Wednesday afternoon, Wang Wei rushes to Ningde to meet with CATL’s technical team. The other party presents a stringent requirement: the chip must pass a wide temperature test from -40°C to 125°C, and the delivery cycle cannot exceed 4 weeks. “Director Zhang, we can conduct the wide temperature test, but the 4-week delivery cycle needs coordination with the production department; I will follow up immediately,” Wang Wei records while speaking. She knows that Director Zhang enjoys single malt whiskey, so she specially gifts him a bottle of her treasured Scottish whiskey—not as a bribe, but as a gesture of maintaining long-term relationships.
On Thursday evening, Wang Wei flies back to Beijing, and during the 3-hour flight, she continuously revises the communication plan for the production department; on Friday morning, she organizes a meeting with the technical, production, and procurement departments to coordinate resources, ultimately compressing the delivery cycle to 3.5 weeks. When she informs Director Zhang of this news, he finally relents: “Let’s first take 1,000 samples for testing; if there are no issues, we will consider bulk purchasing.”
This rhythm continues for half a year. Wang Wei’s flight mileage exceeds 50,000 kilometers, equivalent to circling the globe more than once. She wears out 3 pairs of high heels, revises PPTs over 50 times, and has conducted 12 presentations for the technical teams of BYD and CATL.
Finally, at a technical review meeting at the end of the year, BYD announces that the company’s MCU chip will be included in the supply chain for the next generation of BMS systems. At the moment she signs the Design Win agreement in BYD’s conference room, Wang Wei looks out at the sunset and suddenly tears up—after half a year of hard work and dedication, she finally sees the fruits of her labor. But she knows this is just the beginning: she must follow up on sample testing, assist the customer in optimizing designs, and coordinate production and delivery, ensuring that every step is flawless.
Story Case 2: Loss and Gain at the Munich Exhibition
In March this year, Wang Wei led a team to participate in the Munich Electronics Fair—Europe’s largest electronic components exhibition and an excellent opportunity to expand industrial control customers. For this exhibition, she and her team prepared for a month: designing the booth, creating multilingual product manuals, polishing presentation PPTs, and even customizing fitted suits.
On the opening day of the exhibition, Wang Wei arrives at the venue at 7 AM to check the booth setup and debug demonstration equipment. After the exhibition opens at 8 AM, waves of customers flood in, and she holds product manuals, introducing the company’s motor drive chips to every visitor in fluent English: “This chip’s integration level is 30% higher than the industry average, and power consumption is reduced by 25%, making it ideal for industrial servo systems.” From morning until night, she hardly takes a break, not even having time to drink water; her feet are numb in high heels, and when she returns to the hotel and takes off her shoes, her ankles are already swollen and red.
On the second day of the exhibition, Mr. Schneider, the technical director of a German industrial control company, is attracted by their chip and approaches for a conversation. Mr. Schneider is very interested in the chip’s performance parameters, and Wang Wei spends a full hour discussing everything from technical architecture to application scenarios and cost advantages, answering every question in detail. “Your product is very competitive; we are looking for alternatives to imports, and we can arrange an in-depth technical meeting next week,” Mr. Schneider says, leaving his business card with an air of anticipation.
Wang Wei feels a surge of excitement—this German company is an industry leader; if they can reach a cooperation, it would not only open the European market but also enhance the company’s brand influence. In the following weeks, she frequently communicates with Mr. Schneider via email, sends testing samples, and organizes online presentations with the technical team. Mr. Schneider provides positive feedback on the sample testing results, only awaiting confirmation of the delivery cycle. Wang Wei is confident and even begins preparing contract terms.
However, just as negotiations reach the final stage, Mr. Schneider suddenly sends an email: “We regret to inform you that we have decided to choose another supplier. They can guarantee delivery within 4 weeks, while you need 8 weeks, and our project cannot afford to wait.” Upon reading the email, Wang Wei feels as if all her strength has been drained. Sitting at her desk, she gazes out at the bustling traffic, unable to hold back her tears—clearly, the product’s performance is superior, yet they lose out on the delivery cycle.
After calming down, Wang Wei does not dwell on her disappointment. She organizes the communication records with Mr. Schneider, analyzes the competitors’ advantages, and writes a detailed market insight report: “European industrial customers place far higher demands on supply chain stability than on price and performance; we must optimize our production plans and shorten delivery cycles to establish a foothold in the European market.” This report captures the attention of the company’s senior management, who immediately decide to add a packaging and testing production line in Southeast Asia, compressing the delivery cycle to 5 weeks.
“Although we lost the order, I found our shortcomings,” Wang Wei says in a team meeting, “this lesson will help us go further.”
Character Arc: From “Salesperson” to “Strategic Partner”
In her 5 years of sales career, Wang Wei has transformed from a novice who could only recite product parameters into a sales director who can discern market trends and provide customized solutions for customers. She understands that technical sales is not a “one-time deal” but requires building long-term trust relationships with customers—she remembers every key customer’s birthday and sends local specialties during holidays; when customers encounter technical difficulties, even if they do not involve her products, she proactively offers help.
Some ask her, “Isn’t it tiring to be on the go every day?” Wang Wei smiles and replies, “It’s tiring, but when I see the chips I follow being used in electric vehicles and industrial robots, that sense of achievement is irreplaceable.” Yet occasionally, on late-night flights, gazing at the starry sky outside, she thinks of the long time since she last had dinner with her parents, and a twinge of guilt arises.
Job Story 4: Process Integration Engineer – The “Collaborator” Shuttling Between Manufacturing Centers
Job Characteristics: The “General Coordinator” of Chip Manufacturing
Process integration engineers are the “bridge” connecting chip design and manufacturing. They are responsible for coordinating dozens of process modules such as lithography, etching, and diffusion, solving systemic issues in chip production, and improving yield rates. For fabless companies, process integration engineers are almost permanently stationed at wafer foundries (such as TSMC, Samsung, and SMIC) because only on the production front line can they most promptly identify and resolve issues. Their business trips typically last for months, filled with data and debates, and every rise in the yield curve is the best reward for them.
Character Prototype: Chen Hao, 38 years old, the process integration director at a well-known domestic AI chip company, holds a PhD in materials science and has been in the industry for 10 years. He is meticulous, data-driven, and speaks with strong logic, yet he also knows how to be flexible while adhering to principles. His computer stores hundreds of gigabytes of process data, with every folder meticulously organized.
Story Case: The Yield Battle at TSMC’s Tainan Plant
Last year, the company launched a flagship AI chip development project using TSMC’s 5nm process for manufacturing. This is the first time a high-end AI chip has been designed at the 5nm node in China, and everyone is filled with anticipation. However, the yield during the trial production stage dealt everyone a cold shock—only 30%, far below the target value of 70%.
“We must resolve the yield issue immediately; otherwise, the product cannot be launched on time,” the company CEO slammed the table during the meeting. As the process integration director, Chen Hao was urgently appointed to lead a 5-person team to fly to Tainan—TSMC’s main production base for the 5nm process.
Upon arriving in Tainan the next day, Chen Hao enters TSMC’s Fab 18. After donning a cleanroom suit, he immediately connects with TSMC’s process integration team to obtain detailed trial production data and wafer maps. “The yield loss is mainly concentrated at the wafer edges and shows a regular distribution,” Chen Hao points to the red areas on the screen, “it may be an issue with the lithography or CMP process.”
For the next month, Chen Hao and his team have a packed schedule: attending TSMC’s Daily Meeting at 8 AM to discuss issues with engineers from various process modules; entering the Fab at 10 AM to observe the production process and collect real-time data; analyzing data and conducting simulation modeling in the afternoon; and holding remote meetings with the company’s design team in the evening to provide feedback and adjust design plans.
Debates are commonplace. TSMC’s lithography engineers believe the optical proximity correction (OPC) model in the design drawings is biased, leading to inaccurate edge pattern transfers; while Chen Hao argues that the uneven pressure in the CMP (chemical mechanical polishing) process is causing thickness deviations in the wafer edges. “We conducted 20 sets of comparative experiments, and the OPC model is not the issue,” Chen Hao presents the data report firmly, “look, after adjusting the CMP pressure, the edge yield increased by 5%.” The TSMC engineers fall silent, ultimately agreeing to adjust the CMP process parameters.
However, the problem is not fully resolved. After adjusting the CMP process, the yield rises to 45%, but there is still a significant gap from the target. Chen Hao ponders: could it be the cumulative effect of multiple process modules? He decides to re-evaluate the entire process flow, checking each step from substrate preparation to metallization.
One night, while analyzing data, Chen Hao notices that the plasma power in the etching process has slight fluctuations at the wafer edges, and this fluctuation, when combined with the deviations in the CMP process, could lead to abnormal threshold voltages in the transistors. “Found it!” he excitedly wakes up his team members, “we need to optimize both the CMP pressure and the uniformity of the etching power simultaneously.”
For the next two weeks, Chen Hao and the TSMC team adjust process parameters and conduct hundreds of experiments. When the yield data from the latest batch of wafers comes out, everyone erupts in excitement—the yield reaches 72%, meeting mass production requirements! TSMC’s process integration director pats Chen Hao on the shoulder, saying, “Dr. Chen, you are truly our ‘yield savior!'”
During his two months in Tainan, Chen Hao hardly took a day off. On weekends, he would stroll alone through the streets of Tainan, enjoying a bowl of local danzai noodles to relieve work stress. Every time he saw the yield data gradually climbing, he felt that all the hard work was worth it—not only was it a breakthrough for the company, but also an important step for China’s AI chips in advanced processes.
Character Arc: The “Chip Master” Behind the Scenes
In his 10 years as a process integration engineer, Chen Hao has participated in the manufacturing of chips from 28nm to 5nm nodes, solving hundreds of process challenges. He rarely appears in the spotlight but is a key figure in transforming chip designs into physical products. His colleagues often say, “There is no process problem that Director Chen cannot solve.”
However, Chen Hao also has his regrets. Last year, during his son’s college entrance examination, he was in Tainan tackling yield issues and could not be by his side. When his son was accepted into his ideal university, he said over the phone, “Dad, I understand you; your work is very important.” At that moment, Chen Hao’s eyes welled up. He knows that his perseverance is not only for the company but also to ensure that China’s semiconductor industry is no longer constrained by others.
Conclusion: The Direction of Home
For them, the destination of business trips is always “home.” Every time a flight lands and they open their phones to see messages from family: “Honey, dinner is ready; waiting for you to come back,” “Daddy, when will you come home to play ball with me?” all fatigue dissipates. Their suitcases always contain gifts for their families—perhaps lychees from Shenzhen, chocolates from Munich, pineapple cakes from Tainan, or toys hurriedly bought at the airport; these small gifts carry their deep longing.
Zhang Wei, Li Qiang, Wang Wei, Chen Hao—they are the epitome of the high-frequency business travel group in the semiconductor industry. Although their positions differ and their responsibilities vary, they all contribute to the industry’s development in their own ways: Zhang Wei solves the last-mile issues of chip applications, Li Qiang safeguards the core equipment of wafer fabs, Wang Wei expands new markets for the company, and Chen Hao makes advanced chip manufacturing possible. Their stories encompass the excitement of overcoming technical challenges, the loneliness in foreign lands, the resilience in facing pressures, and the guilt and concern for their families.
As China’s semiconductor industry chain continues to improve, more and more chip design, manufacturing, and testing companies are establishing roots domestically. Perhaps in the future, their business trips will shift from “international flights” to “domestic high-speed trains,” allowing for more time with family. But the essence of globalization will not change; collaboration in the semiconductor industry will still require their footsteps to cross mountains and seas.
These “nomads of the silicon world” pave the way for the rise of China’s semiconductors with their travels and perseverance. Their stories continue; and the future of China’s semiconductors shines brighter because of them.
Engineer Zhao
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