Let me talk about the point of view first. The technical requirements for making chips are higher.
In fact, making atomic bombs and making chips are different industrial categories. There is no comparability between the two. If the questioner must compare one, two, and three, then from the following four aspects Let’s compare:
First of all, in terms of principle, the principle of nuclear fission of the atomic bomb has been widely understood by people before World War II. The principle of the chip is mainly calculated using Boolean functions, and then using transistor switches. Let the current run according to the instructions of 010101. From this perspective, neither is difficult.
Looking at materials, making an atomic bomb requires extracting a large amount of uranium, which is a very troublesome process. During World War II, Japan originally started researching atomic bombs before the United States, but due to problems with uranium extraction, it ultimately failed to produce one. The atomic bomb was produced, which shows that it takes a lot of effort to extract the materials for the atomic bomb. Chips are silicon wafers with integrated circuits. Silicon can be extracted in large quantities from sand and stones, and the extraction technology is not difficult. You can use a centrifuge to obtain silicon rods with high purity. From this point of view, the extraction technology of materials for making atomic bombs is more demanding.
The most important thing is production. The meanings of atomic bombs and chips are different. All it takes is one atomic bomb to be built, as long as it explodes and has enough deterrence, and the cost of building an atomic bomb does not matter. For political reasons, our country mobilized the whole country to build an atomic bomb. The chip is different. One chip cannot be built just to stop it. A series of factors such as different functional requirements, different types, structural optimization, cost reduction, etc. must be considered. Moreover, the update speed of chips is astonishingly fast. Maybe it was still 14nm a few years ago. process, it will become a 7nm process after the year. The research and manufacturing of chips are dominated by enterprises. Enterprises have to consider production costs and cannot invest as much manpower, material and financial resources as the country does.
As for technology, our country has already solved the most important uranium extraction technology and centrifugal technology in atomic bomb manufacturing. However, the most important technology in chip manufacturing has not yet been solved in my country, which is to engrave integrated circuits on the carrier. . This requires a photolithography machine. However, the photolithography machine is currently monopolized by a Dutch company. All high-end photolithography machines in the world are manufactured by this company. For reasons of intellectual property and patent confidentiality, they only sell a few dozen units every year.
To sum up, combining the four aspects of principles, materials, production, and technology, the manufacturing requirements of chips far exceed those of atomic bombs. The questioner may wish to compare whether it is more difficult to make chips or to make engines next time.