Biography
Zhao Yuanfu, researcher, doctoral supervisor, is currently the deputy director of the Science and Technology Committee of the Ninth Research Institute of China Aerospace Science and Technology Group Co., Ltd., and the director of the 772nd Research Institute of the Ninth Research Institute of China Aerospace Science and Technology Group Co., Ltd. He has long been engaged in microelectronics technology research and chip development. In view of the space radiation environment, he led the team to overcome the major technical problems of anti-radiation reinforcement of aerospace integrated circuits, and stepped out of the technical route of anti-radiation design and reinforcement of integrated circuits in China. Cheng genealogy has developed a variety of core chips, making great contributions to the innovative development of aerospace projects such as application satellites and space exploration; realizing the first export of China's aerospace components, making China's aerospace chips go abroad.
Chip expert Zhao Yuanfu. Courtesy of respondents
Inheritance
Some time ago, I gave a lecture to new employees. At that time, the topic I was talking about was called "Taking Root in the Fertile Soil of Aerospace and Inheriting the Spirit of Aerospace." I want to tell them that spaceflight is fertile ground and that it is worth it. The exploration of space is a sacred cause of mankind, and it will always exude a powerful attraction to mankind. Aerospace is the cornerstone for a nation and a country to achieve self-reliance and self-reliance, so I tell them that there are good environmental conditions, there are national engineering projects that need your research and completion, and there is the vigorous support of the party and the people.
Chips are to electronic devices what brains are to people. As the core of the electronic system and the cornerstone of the information industry, the chip known as the "modern industrial grain" is of unparalleled importance.
On June 23, 2020, the "Beidou-3 Closing Star" was successfully launched with the Long March 3B carrier rocket, which marked the full completion of the deployment of the Beidou-3 global satellite navigation system.
The integrated circuit developed by Zhao Yuanfu, deputy director of the Science and Technology Committee of the Ninth Research Institute of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, and his team account for more than 50% of all the integrated circuits in the star, providing a strong guarantee for the realization of 100% domestic production of beidou-3 core components.
Projectile starship, pedigree space core. All this, for Zhao Yuanfu, is a challenge and a breakthrough. He understands in his heart that on the long road of scientific and technological innovation and development, only "dead ends" can alleviate difficulties.
Because radio is obsessed with microelectronics
In the third year after the resumption of the college entrance examination, Zhao Yuanfu successfully "went ashore". Because his family occupation was related to medicine, when he filled out the volunteer form, he wrote about the Second Military Medical University of the People's Liberation Army in Shanghai.
"At that time, I didn't think so carefully, and the sources of information at that time were relatively small, and later under the influence of others, I refilled my volunteer and chose the semiconductor physics and device major of the Department of Radio Engineering of Zhejiang University." Zhao Yuanfu said that it is also the "difference of one thought" that makes him go farther and farther on the road of developing chips.
In fact, the confusion and interest in "semiconductors" comes from a radio that can "talk and sing". Zhao Yuanfu was born in Jinxian County, Jiangxi Province, when a semiconductor radio was a big thing for ordinary families. A small semiconductor box that can receive radio wave signals, switch channels, and broadcast sound. This made Zhao Yuanfu want to understand, where did the magic of this semiconductor radio come from?
After entering the door of Zhejiang University, Zhao Yuanfu's doubts were solved, but for the professional field of semiconductors, he was still a new soldier. In 1983, Zhao Yuanfu applied for graduate school and chose to devote himself to Mr. Huang Chang, the founder of China's aerospace microelectronics, and studied at the then Northwest Institute of Telecommunications Engineering (now Xidian University) to continue his studies. In 1986, he continued to study under Mr. Huang Chang and studied for a doctorate at the Aerospace 771 Institute, and since then he has formed an indissoluble relationship with the aerospace industry, and has become one of the few doctoral students who have carried out research on radiation reinforcement technology for integrated circuits in China. Mr. Huang Chang demanded that "graduate students can not do the project on paper, can not be separated from the reality only to do computer simulations, to combine the key model tasks in the institute, learn from design to process to test to packaging, the whole process must be understood." Using the leading integrated circuit development platform of 771 institutes in China, under the guidance of mentor Huang Chang, he has been systematically trained and trained in the whole process of integrated circuit design, process, packaging, testing, device simulation, etc., and has achieved a number of research results. In 1992, he led the team to develop a total dose reinforcement technology that combines gate oxide layer process reinforcement and site layout design reinforcement, which won the first prize of the Ministry of Aeronautics and Astronautics Science and Technology Progress Award in 1992 as the first in China. Since then, the research of anti-radiation reinforcement technology of integrated circuits has become his entire career for decades.
Zhao Yuanfu told the Beijing News reporter that the chips used for aerospace will be damaged by space radiation, resulting in dysfunction and even fatal failures of satellites and other spacecraft, so anti-radiation reinforcement must be carried out. Radiation-resistant reinforcement chip technology is an important component of aerospace core technology and a common basic technology of space exploration.
According to him, there are two main ways for chips to achieve radiation resistance, one is process reinforcement, by changing the manufacturing materials and process conditions of chips, reducing the sensitivity of chips to radiation, it is necessary to build a dedicated process line with huge investment. The second is design reinforcement, that is, in the chip design stage, through a variety of ingenious methods, so that the finished chip has the ability to block, absorb, divert, mask, quench and so on to make the hazards generated by radiation invisible, this way does not require a special process line.
Based on the inability of China's special process line to meet the urgent needs of aerospace, Zhao Yuanfu led the team to overcome a number of major technical problems of "design reinforcement", and successfully developed radiation-resistant reinforcement integrated circuits in genealogy, and were widely used in various aerospace models, leading the development of design reinforcement technology and stepping out of the integrated circuit radiation reinforcement technology route with Chinese characteristics.
In September 2012, Zhao Yuanfu and the designers discussed technical issues. Courtesy of respondents
Domestic chips help the satellite get back on track
In order to gain an in-depth understanding of the frontier of radiation reinforcement chip technology in the world, Zhao Yuanfu went abroad in 1996 to conduct a two-year visit and exchange, mainly to study the radiation performance of new devices, new structures and new materials. "During my stay abroad, I participated in many top international conferences related to chips and radiation resistance, truly felt the academic atmosphere of high-level research, understood the development of cutting-edge technologies in this field, and played a very good role in personal technology research." Zhao Yuanfu said.
But studying abroad has given Zhao Yuan a feeling of being a guest outside, and he is often turned away from discussing and practicing some core projects. At the end of his studies, his mentors abroad hoped that he would stay in the school to carry out research work, and offered to handle relevant procedures and provide him with preferential treatment. However, at that time, the Aerospace 772 Institute was in a critical period of shifting from infrastructure construction to comprehensive scientific research, and he had always had the belief of learning to serve the country, and resolutely returned to China to devote himself to the cause of realizing the dream of aerospace "core".
His study abroad has broadened his horizons and inspired him a lot. In 1999, Zhao Yuanfu combined with the actual situation of the non-process production line of the Aerospace 772 Institute, as the project leader, proposed the project of "radiation effect of low-power, low-voltage CMOS devices and integrated circuits", and opened the exploration of "design reinforcement".
Subsequently, under the planning of Zhao Yuanfu, he led the team to undertake the pre-research project of China's first integrated circuit radiation reinforcement design technology. Later, closely focusing on the needs of aerospace equipment, dozens of radiation-resistant reinforcement integrated circuits were developed for key models such as Beidou navigation. In 2003, two special chips went to the sky with the Beidou satellite, which was the first successful on-orbit application of domestic anti-radiation-reinforced large-scale integrated circuits.
What Zhao Yuanfu will never forget is a winter in 2007. On a Beidou satellite that has just separated from the rocket, the chip in the posture-orbiting device that controls the satellite is a product studied by Zhao Yuanfu's team. But this device with domestic chips was just a backup at the time, whether it can be used, Zhao Yuanfu drummed in his heart. "It's best not to use it, but if you use a backup instead, it means that there is a problem with the satellite." Zhao Yuanfu said.
What he didn't expect was that a phone call with a rapid ringing made him nervous in an instant. The satellite air conditioning system failed, and the temperature in the satellite plummeted to minus 63 °C, and the main component equipment could not be started at this temperature.
I could only boot the backup device, the scalp, but we became! Zhao Yuanfu recalled.
Recalling this unforgettable experience, Zhao Yuanfu said that although he knew that he was a "spare tire" before development, he did a solid job, and the "spare tire" played a "main role" role at a critical moment, which played a good demonstration role for the promotion and application of their products.
Ten years of grinding a sword to develop "domestic aerospace CPU"
"In the past, when we imported other people's chips, we were very passive. People say they won't sell it to you, you'll have to find another one. When you change the chip, the related software that supports it must be replaced, and the workload is extremely large. Zhao Yuanfu sighed.
Long-term mass production satellites like Beidou need a stable supply source, once the imported chip is cut off, the satellite batch production will be seriously affected, no longer as simple as finding a source of goods to replace, from the design of the whole star to change, because the entire electronic system has changed. Only by supplying the supply in their own hands can the risk of supply interruption be controlled.
In 2009, in response to the severe situation of single particle failure in orbit of non-reinforced chips, Zhao Yuanfu's team was ordered to develop a number of million-level anti-radiation reinforcement special chips for the first time, which played a key role in the stable and reliable work of Beidou and other satellites. In the list of the main completed units of the "Beidou-2 Satellite Project" that won the Special Prize of National Science and Technology Progress, the aerospace 772 institute where the team is located is impressively listed.
Beidou Project is a key aerospace project independently developed and constructed in China, and is also a leader in the pedigree application of domestic aerospace integrated circuit products. The application of space chips is not achieved overnight.
In 2011, Zhao Yuanfu's then-772 Institute undertook the development of nearly 40 domestic circuits for a new generation of Beidou navigation satellites. "Each radiation test also took a long time, and in order not to make mistakes, the team members often ate instant noodles hungry and got sleepy and laid the floor." Zhao Yuanfu said. In the same year, China's first radiation-resistant reinforced CPU underwent various tests to achieve star applications.
In an interview with reporters, Zhao Yuanfu used "ten years to grind a sword" to describe the process of CPU development. It is difficult to develop a radiation-resistant reinforced CPU, difficult in its high complexity, difficult in its need to embed software, soft and hard collaborative design, and even more difficult to help users build confidence - it is too critical, a slight difference in the pool, the entire model task will end in failure. In order to do a good job, Zhao Yuanfu's team put the verification of the chip at the same height as the design, verified while studying, and then modified and adjusted the research through verification. This development process took ten years, ten years only input and no output, only doubts without applause, Zhao Yuanfu's team with a firm determination of Qingshan not to relax the tenacity, and finally realized the dream of several generations of astronauts "domestic CPU".
With the spirit of perseverance and hard work, Zhao Yuanfu led the team to develop a library of anti-radiation reinforcement units, built a development platform, successfully developed hundreds of products such as anti-radiation reinforcement microprocessors, FPGAs, special circuits, buses, converters and memories, and basically built the spectrum of China's aerospace chip products; because there is no shackles of special production lines, the performance indicators of these products are comparable to the international advanced level, and some are even better, which can be said to have achieved the leapfrog development of China's anti-radiation reinforcement chips. At present, the application of these products has covered key domestic aerospace projects, including Beidou navigation, manned spaceflight, lunar exploration, Mars exploration, etc., and the user units involve nearly 100 affiliated enterprises such as Aerospace Science and Technology Group, The Chinese Academy of Sciences and China Electronics Science and Technology. In 2018, Zhao Yuanfu, as the first person to complete the achievement of "integrated circuit single particle reinforcement technology and application of single particle", won the first prize of the National Technology Invention Award.
A major turning point from embargo to export
While realizing the independent control of anti-radiation reinforcement chips, Zhao Yuanfu's team has always hoped to enter the international market and continuously improve the technical level and product competitiveness in the process of internationalization.
In 2012, Zhao Yuanfu took his self-produced chip abroad. "In the past, I went abroad to import equipment and products, and this time I went abroad to promote our own things, and the mood was very different." There is indeed a sense of pride. Zhao Yuanfu said that at the beginning, he was still a little worried, thinking that the international popularity of his products was not high, afraid that there were not many customers who were interested.
But to his surprise, the response from the outside world was enthusiastic. Zhao Yuanfu said that the number of people who signed up for the promotion meeting has increased repeatedly, and the conference room has also been changed again and again, from a conference room of 30 people to 100 people, and then to the last 300 people, the promotion meeting was full on the same day, which greatly increased his confidence in the export of products.
In 2014, at the 10th China International Aerospace Expo, the radiation reinforcement chip developed by Zhao Yuanfu's team won foreign orders, which was the first time that China's radiation reinforcement chip entered the international market and achieved a major turning point from being embargoed to exporting. The products developed by Zhao Yuanfu's team have also been certified by foreign companies after strict inspection, so that China's radiation-resistant reinforcement integrated circuits have entered the European aerospace supply chain for the first time and have been exported to France, Germany, Switzerland and Spain.
Craftsman's voice
Beijing News: In the process of achieving achievements, how did you show the spirit of ingenuity?
Zhao Yuanfu: A chip with tens of billions of transistors gathered on it is an extremely complex system, and to do it well, it needs careful design. In my opinion, the spirit of ingenuity is the work style condensed by the older generation of aerospace scientific research workers in our country - "strict and careful". When we do anything, we need these four words, and we must put quality first. As the old saying goes, it's about getting the job done.
Beijing News: In your life and work, what things have you always adhered to?
Zhao Yuanfu: From my personal point of view, I think there are two points. First, we must persist in continuous learning. I love to read books, and I dabble in all types of books. As long as you read the book, you will take the initiative to think, and thinking is a learning ability. Second, I firmly believe in the power of the team. When we do project projects, we must integrate ourselves into the collective and form effective communication, so as to ensure that each link does not make mistakes and truly accomplish things.
Beijing News: When do you think it's the hardest time? What are the reasons for sticking with it?
Zhao Yuanfu: When overcoming a certain technical difficulty, there will be a lot of unhappiness. The deepest impression is that when I first started doing technical research, although there were some breakthroughs, we waited until we really defined a CPU product, only to find that there is a lack here and there. At this time, I will first try to release the pressure and communicate with my colleagues more, and I will always find a way. The reason for perseverance comes from responsibility and love for the profession.
Beijing News: What achievements do you hope to achieve in the future, and what are your expectations for the future?
Zhao Yuanfu: Our Beidou has fully realized the domestic production of core devices. In the next step, in addition to better playing the supporting role of the space chip, we must also find ways to better play its leading role, which is also what we look forward to and want to achieve in the future.
Beijing News trainee reporter Zhang Jianlin intern Wang Miaomiao
Edited by Zhang Lei, Proofread by Jia Ning