Semiconductor expert Wang Shoujue's autobiography: My journey to becoming an academician

Latest update time：2020-04-27

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Wang Shoujue is a famous semiconductor and information scientist in my country, an expert in microelectronics, ICCAD and neural computers. He was born in Shanghai in 1925 and graduated from Tongji University in Shanghai in 1949. He served as a researcher, director, deputy director and director of the Institute of Semiconductors of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (academician) in 1980.

Academician Wang participated in the research of basic components of computers needed for the "two bombs and one satellite" in his early years, solving the need for high-speed transistorized computers. In 1963, he first developed silicon planar technology and planar components in my country, ensuring the successful development of the 109C machine, which made a major contribution to the development of China's "two bombs and one satellite". He developed the earliest four solid components in China, creating basic conditions for the development of special microcomputers; he also made a series of innovative contributions in the implementation and model algorithms of semiconductor hardware for fuzzy logic and neural networks. In 1978, he was the first in the world to publish and develop an integrated fuzzy logic circuit, which increased the speed of my country's 8-bit D/A converter by 20 times. He led the successful development of the digital-analog hybrid small neural computer "Prophecy God No. 1", which won the first prize of the National New Product, the National Science Conference Award, and the first prize of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' major achievements. Since 1990, he has been committed to the basic theory and practical application of machine image thinking such as neural network pattern recognition. In the national "Eighth Five-Year Plan" and "Ninth Five-Year Plan" scientific and technological breakthroughs, he undertook the breakthrough work of the realization and application technology of neural networks, and won many national awards.

Suzhou, a city of outstanding people, has produced many great talents. Wang Ao's former residence in Dongshan, near the Taihu Lake, has produced dozens of famous people. Please listen to the autobiography of one of them, Academician Wang Shoujue.

The Wang family is famous for producing many famous people

According to the Institute of the History of Natural Sciences, my father Wang Jitong was the first to publish a paper in an international mathematics journal in 1911. Some of his mathematical papers were also cited by American magazines and were called "Wang's Algebra". Later, he participated in the construction of power plants and was responsible for the technical engineering of Suzhou Electric Light Company, Zhenjiang Electric Light Company, etc., and made contributions to the development of the power industry. My uncle Wang Jile was a Jinshi in the Qing Dynasty. He was the first in my country to translate and introduce the word "physics" and use it in Chinese textbooks. He also wrote many Kunqu operas and literary works. My uncles Wang Jidian and Wang Jixu are both university professors. My eldest aunt Wang Jizhao studied biology abroad in her early years. After returning to China, she taught biology at Zhenhua Girls' Middle School. My second aunt studied in the United States and worked in the United States until she died in her 90s. After returning from studying in the United States, my third aunt Wang Jiyu succeeded my grandmother Xie Changda as the principal of Zhenhua Girls' Middle School until she died after liberation.

In fact, in our family, my brothers and sisters have done much better than me, but they didn't catch up with the time to be evaluated as academicians. I am the youngest in the family, ranking 12th, but only 7 of the 12 brothers and sisters really work and have families, and 5 unfortunately died in the middle of their careers. My eldest sister Wang Shuzhen is a very famous gynecologist, known as "Wang Shuzhen in the South". When she was alive, she was the dean of the School of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Shanghai Medical College and a representative of the first National People's Congress. She made great contributions to obstetrics and gynecology in my country throughout her life. My eldest brother Wang Shoujing went to the United States to study from Tsinghua University in his early years. His doctoral thesis on theoretical physics research is very influential internationally. He is also the founder of my country's mechanical industry. My second sister Wang Mingzhen is the first female professor at Tsinghua University. She is 99 years old this year and is currently the oldest professor at Tsinghua University. My third sister Wang Shouyu followed her husband Lu Xueshan (one of the first batch of academicians in my country in 1955) to study in the UK in her early years. After returning to China, she taught English at Zhenhua Girls' High School and did a lot of translation work for Lu Xueshan's research. The second brother, Wang Shourong, served as the director of the Department of Precision Instruments at Tianjin University and died in the early days of the Cultural Revolution. The third brother, Wang Shouwu, is a semiconductor device physicist in my country. He received a master's degree from Purdue University in the United States in 1946 and a doctorate in 1949. He is a researcher at the Institute of Semiconductors of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the honorary director of the Microelectronics Center. In 1958, he planned to build my country's first mass-produced tube factory. In 1963, he created the method of optical crystal orientation for tubes, which promoted the successful development of my country's first gallium arsenide laser. In 1978, he led scientific and technological personnel to conduct research on improving the yield rate of large-scale integrated circuit chips, which significantly improved the yield rate of large-scale integrated circuit chips in my country and greatly reduced costs. In 1980, he was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (academician).

About my reading life

I have had a rough life. I am a very special academician. I can be said to be a "country bumpkin". I was born in Shanghai in 1925, when my father Wang Jitong was 51 years old. When my father was 60 years old, he had a severe hemorrhage, and my family moved back to my hometown Suzhou. I finished elementary school at Peng's Primary School and finished the first grade of junior high school at Dongwu Affiliated Middle School. Later, because of the Anti-Japanese War, the war was frequent and our family fled. My middle school years were spent intermittently in a life of displacement. During this period, I did all kinds of work, such as repairing watches, doing measurements, making door locks, and raising pigs, but I never forgot to study on my own. Because I did not go to high school, I could only apply for a junior college when I took the college entrance examination. I had to first be admitted to the telecommunications department of Southwest Associated University, but I was unwilling to go to a junior college. Later, the opportunity came. It happened that my younger brother was called Wang Shoujue before changing his name. He studied at Aurora University in Shanghai and had a transcript. I took this transcript to the then Occupied Area Refugee Student Registration Office to register, and was issued an equivalent academic certificate, allowing me to take the university entrance exam, so I was admitted to Tongji University. My original name was Wang Shouping, and from then on I was called Wang Shoujue. At that time, Tongji University was in German, and it took 6 years to study. During my university years, my health was very poor. I spent one-third of my time lying in bed, one-third of my time being supported by classmates to go to class, and one-third of my time going to class by myself, but my brain was very good, which was probably due to self-study and the influence of family genes. In college, more than 20 students with different majors lived in a large dormitory, and I actually knew a lot about other majors besides telecommunications, such as civil engineering. The most impressive thing was that there was a professor who came back from Germany and taught theoretical electricians. He followed the foreign education model, gave few lectures, and set difficult test questions. In an exam, only 3 of the 19 students in the class passed, but I scored 96 points. I think you should study hard, but don't study blindly. When I was at Tongji University, I received a scholarship that was the envy of all my classmates. There were only two students in the school who received it. During college, I enthusiastically joined the Youth Army. I thought that this Kuomintang army was anti-Japanese. I worked in telecommunications in the army. Because I couldn't stand the corruption of Kuomintang officers, I was punished. I was demoted from sergeant to sergeant and put in solitary confinement, but I was very supported by my classmates because of this.

How did I become an academician?

After liberation, I first worked in an electrical appliance factory. I also participated in the development of my country's first railway automation device. In 1953, the first five-year plan in China began. I was transferred to the Shanghai Design Bureau of the First Machinery Industry Ministry. In 1955, I was named a Shanghai Model Worker. In 1956, I participated in the National Heroes Conference. At that gathering, I unexpectedly met my junior high school classmates from Soochow High School, such as Lu Zuyin, who was engaged in nuclear physics, and Xu Naiying, who was engaged in communications. In 1956, Premier Zhou Enlai called for the march toward science. At that time, in addition to atomic energy, the country also urgently developed computers, semiconductors, automation, electronics, etc. I was transferred from Shanghai to the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Originally, I was going to work on computers, but when I reported for duty, the staff of the preparatory group of the Computer Research Institute had gone to the Soviet Union for inspection. It happened that the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences established a semiconductor research laboratory that year, so I went there. From then on, I began to study the new field of semiconductors, participated in the development of my country's first transistor led by my brother Wang Shouwu, and served as the leader of the research group. Because I was not a PhD student who had returned from abroad, I was sent to the Soviet Academy of Sciences for an internship for half a year in 1957. During the six months from October 1957 to March 1958, I visited four research institutes in Leningrad, Moscow and other places and participated in their research work. After returning to China, I increased the frequency of transistor development by two orders of magnitude in just a few months. I was responsible for developing my country's first high-frequency transistor above 100 MHz, which solved the transistor problem that computers urgently needed at the time. The first silicon planar tube I developed in 1963 won the first prize of the National New Product Award jointly evaluated by the State Science and Technology Commission and the State Planning Commission in 1964. In 1964, the ultra-small planar tube I developed won the National Invention Award. In 1965, the country's first solid-state circuit was developed, and the state allocated 1 million development funds. Our research laboratory quickly grew to more than 300 people.

At that time, I was very popular. In addition, my laboratory caught fire and I bravely put out the fire, becoming a "fire-fighting hero". Although I didn't open my eyes for three days and three nights, the fire burned off all the freckles on my face. But in 1966, the Cultural Revolution happened to start, and I became the "third person to be overthrown" in the institute. I stood aside for three years, burning boilers, cleaning, and working in the countryside. However, I was always optimistic. In 1969, I was "liberated" after investigation. I led a group of people to develop a graphics generator, which is a high-tech equipment. In fact, it was considered necessary to do it in 1965, and it had achieved certain results. At that time, there was no such equipment abroad. The first international paper on this was published in 1969, but it was delayed because of the turmoil. I reported to the military representative that I wanted to "make a comeback". In 1970, we developed the first graphics generator in the country, including the CAD-assisted design developed later, and won the Science Conference Award in 1978. In 1980, my brother Wang Shouwu and I were both elected as academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (members of the Academic Committee).

——Excerpt from: Shen Ling, Ma Li. My Journey to Becoming an Academician: A Personal Account by Wang Shoujue, a Famous Semiconductor and Information Expert. Southern Jiangsu Science and Technology Development. Issue 2, 2005

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