The incredible chemistry powering your smartphone | Cathy Mulzer

Translator: Ivana Korom Reviewer: Joanna Pietrulewicz

翻译人员: Jingdan Niu 校对人员: Yihong Tang

When I waltzed off to high school with my new Nokia phone,

当我带着我的新诺基亚手机， 迈着轻快的步伐去上高中时，

I thought I just had the new, coolest replacement

我以为它是我 老旧粉红公主款对讲机的

for my old pink princess walkie-talkie.

最新最酷的替代品。

Except now, my friends and I could text or talk to each other

然而现在，我和朋友不论在哪里，

wherever we were,

都可以互相发信息或者对话，

instead of pretending,

而不再需要像

when we were running around each other's backyards.

在后院里东奔西跑时 那样假装互相对话。

Now, I'll be honest.

坦白说，

Back then, I didn't think a lot about how these devices were made.

在那个时候，我并没有想过太多 这些装置是如何制造出来的。

They tended to show up on Christmas morning,

它们就像在圣诞节的早晨突然出现，

so maybe they were made by the elves in Santa's workshop.

所以也许是被圣诞老人 手工店的小精灵做出来的。

Let me ask you a question.

我想问你们一个问题。

Who do you think the real elves that make these devices are?

你们认为谁是真正 制造这些设备的小精灵？

If I ask a lot of the people I know,

如果我问一些我认识的人，

they would say it's the hoodie-wearing software engineers in Silicon Valley,

他们会说是硅谷里面那些 穿着连帽衫编辑代码

hacking away at code.

的软件工程师。

But a lot has to happen to these devices

但是在这些设备进行 任何代码编辑前，

before they're ready for any kind of code.

它们已经经过了大量的准备工作。

These devices start at the atomic level.

这些设备的诞生是从原子级别开始的。

So if you ask me,

所以如果你问我这个问题，

the real elves are the chemists.

我会说，那些真正 的小精灵是化学家们。

That's right, I said the chemists.

是的，我说的是化学家们。

Chemistry is the hero of electronic communications.

化学是电子通讯技术的幕后英雄。

And my goal today is to convince you

我今天的目的就是说服你们

to agree with me.

赞同我的观点。

OK, let's start simple,

让我们从简单一点的开始，

and take a look inside these insanely addictive devices.

从内部来看看 这些令人痴迷的设备。

Because without chemistry,

因为没有化学，

what is an information superhighway that we love,

我们所喜爱的这个信息高速公路，

would just be a really expensive, shiny paperweight.

将会只是一个非常昂贵的、 闪亮的压纸器。

Chemistry enables all of these layers.

化学使每一层材料能够发挥作用。

Let's start at the display.

让我们从显示层开始。

How do you think we get those bright, vivid colors

你们认为我们是如何得到这些

that we love so much?

令人爱不释手的明亮生动的颜色的？

Well, I'll tell you.

事实上，

There's organic polymers embedded within the display,

嵌入在显示层中的有机聚合物，

that can take electricity and turn it into the blue, red and green

能够把电流变成我们在图片中看到的

that we enjoy in our pictures.

令人赏心悦目的蓝色、红色和绿色。

What if we move down to the battery?

那么电池层呢？

Now there's some intense research.

目前有一些密集的研究。

How do we take the chemical principles of traditional batteries

我们如何将传统电池的化学原理

and pair it with new, high surface area electrodes,

与新兴的、高表面积电极相结合，

so we can pack more charge in a smaller footprint of space,

使得我们能够将更多的电荷 放进一个更小的空间，

so that we could power our devices all day long,

这样当我们自拍时，

while we're taking selfies,

设备可以续航一整天，

without having to recharge our batteries

不必再去给电池重新充电，

or sit tethered to an electrical outlet?

或者在一个插座附近坐着。

What if we go to the adhesives that bind it all together,

再看看把这些全都 紧紧固定在一起的粘合剂，

so that it could withstand our frequent usage?

它经得起我们的频繁使用吗？

After all, as a millennial,

毕竟，作为千禧一代，

I have to take my phone out at least 200 times a day to check it,

我不得不每天 把手机拿出来检查 200 次，

and in the process, drop it two to three times.

并且在这个过程中摔了两到三次。

But what are the real brains of these devices?

但是什么才是 这些设备真正的大脑？

What makes them work the way that we love them so much?

为什么我们对它们爱不释手？

Well that all has to do with electrical components and circuitry

这些都和电子组件，

that are tethered to a printed circuit board.

以及围绕在一个印刷电路板 周围的电子线路有关。

Or maybe you prefer a biological metaphor --

或者也许你更喜欢生物学隐喻——

the motherboard, you might have heard of that.

你应该听说过的，主板。

Now, the printed circuit board doesn't really get talked about a lot.

围绕印刷电路板， 并没有太多真正的讨论。

And I'll be honest, I don't know why that is.

坦白讲，我不知道这是为什么。

Maybe it's because it's the least sexy layer

可能是因为它是最不吸引人的一层，

and it's hidden beneath all of those other sleek-looking layers.

并且它隐藏在其它所有 设计流畅的应用层下面。

But it's time to finally give this Clark Kent layer

但是现在是时候给予这 名不见经传的一层

the Superman-worthy praise it deserves.

超人般的赞誉了。

And so I ask you a question.

所以我想问你们一个问题。

What do you think a printed circuit board is?

你们认为什么是印刷电路板？

Well, consider a metaphor.

考虑用隐喻的方式。

Think about the city that you live in.

想想你居住的城市。

You have all these points of interest that you want to get to:

你知道所有的景点，然后你想去：

your home, your work, restaurants,

你家里，你工作单位，餐厅，

a couple of Starbucks on every block.

以及每个街区的星巴克。

And so we build roads that connect them all together.

所以我们修了 将它们都连接起来的路。

That's what a printed circuit board is.

这就是印刷电路板。

Except, instead of having things like restaurants,

除了那些类似餐厅的东西，

we have transistors on chips,

我们在芯片上用晶体管，

capacitors, resistors,

电容器，电阻器替代了它们，

all of these electrical components

所有这些电子元件，

that need to find a way to talk to each other.

都需要可以相互通话的方式。

And so what are our roads?

那么我们的道路呢？

Well, we build tiny copper wires.

我们造了微小的铜线。

So the next question is,

所以下一个问题是，

how do we make these tiny copper wires?

我们如何制造这些微小铜线？

They're really small.

它们非常的小。

Could it be that we go to the hardware store,

可不可能，我们走进一家硬件商店，

pick up a spool of copper wire,

拿一轴铜线，

get some wire cutters, a little clip-clip,

再用那些钢丝钳，一点线缆，

saw it all up and then, bam -- we have our printed circuit board?

把它们组装起来，然后，砰—— 我们就有了印刷线路板吗？

No way.

没门。

These wires are way too small for that.

我们需要的铜线是非常微小的。

And so we have to rely on our friend: chemistry.

所以我们不得不 依靠我们的朋友：化学。

Now, the chemical process to make these tiny copper wires

化学工艺使制造这些微小铜线

is seemingly simple.

看起来似乎非常简单。

We start with a solution

我们从一个带正电的铜球的

of positively charged copper spheres.

溶液开始。

We then add to it an insulating printed circuit board.

然后我们加入一个 绝缘的印刷电路板。

And we feed those positively charged spheres

同时我们通过往混合液里加入甲醛

negatively charged electrons

给带正电的球体里

by adding formaldehyde to the mix.

提供带负电的电子。

So you might remember formaldehyde.

你可能还记得甲醛是什么。

Really distinct odor,

非常独特的气味，

used to preserve frogs in biology class.

用来在生物课上保存青蛙。

Well it turns out it can do a lot more than just that.

是的，事实证明它可以用来 做更多的事情。

And it's a really key component

并且这是制造这些微小铜线的

to making these tiny copper wires.

关键部分。

You see, the electrons on formaldehyde have a drive.

于是，这些甲醛上 的电子有了内驱力。

They want to jump over to those positively charged copper spheres.

它们想跳上这些带正电的铜球。

And that's all because of a process known as redox chemistry.

这些都是因为一个叫 氧化还原的过程。

And when that happens,

当这个反应发生的时候，

we can take these positively charged copper spheres

我们可以将这些带正电的铜球

and turn them into bright,

变成明亮的，

shiny, metallic and conductive copper.

闪光的，金属的，有传导性的铜。

And once we have conductive copper,

一旦我们有了带传导性的铜，

now we're cooking with gas.

就相当于我们已经 在用天然气做饭了。

And we can get all of those electrical components

那么，我们能够使所有电子元件

to talk to each other.

互相之间进行交流了。

So thank you once again to chemistry.

所以再次谢谢化学。

And let's take a thought

让我们来想想，

and think about how far we've come with chemistry.

思考一下有了化学以后 我们走了多远。

Clearly, in electronic communications,

很明显，在电子通讯领域，

size matters.

尺寸非常重要。

So let's think about how we can shrink down our devices,

所以让我们思考一下 如何才能缩小设备的尺寸，

so that we can go from our 1990s Zack Morris cell phone

这样我们可以从 90 年代的大哥大，

to something a little bit more sleek,

过渡到一种更加流畅的，

like the phones of today that can fit in our pockets.

就像今天我们可以 装进口袋里的手机。

Although, let's be real here:

尽管，现实一点：

absolutely nothing can fit into ladies' pants pockets,

很显然没有东西可以 装进女士裤子的口袋里，

if you can find a pair of pants that has pockets.

如果你可以找到一对有口袋的裤子。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And I don't think chemistry can help us with that problem.

并且我也不认为化学 可以帮我们解决这个问题。

But more important than shrinking the actual device,

但是比让实际设备 缩小尺寸更重要的是，

how do we shrink the circuitry inside of it,

我们如何使内部的电路

and shrink it by 100 times,

缩小 100 倍，

so that we can take the circuitry from the micron scale

以便使电路从微米尺寸

all the way down to the nanometer scale?

直接缩小到纳米尺寸？

Because, let's face it,

因为，我们面对的是，

right now we all want more powerful and faster phones.

现在我们需要更强大，更快的手机，

Well, more power and faster requires more circuitry.

而更强大和更快意味着 需要更多的电路。

So how do we do this?

那么我们如何做到这一点？

It's not like we have some magic electromagnetic shrink ray,

并不是说我们拥有某些 有魔力的电磁收缩射线，

like professor Wayne Szalinski used in "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids"

就像韦恩·萨林斯基教授在 “亲爱的，我把孩子们缩小了”里面

to shrink his children.

用来缩小他的孩子们的机器。

On accident, of course.

当然，他不是故意的。

Or do we?

我们可以用他的机器吗？

Well, actually, in the field,

事实上，在该领域内，

there's a process that's pretty similar to that.

有一个过程和那个非常类似。

And it's name is photolithography.

它的名字叫光刻法。

In photolithography, we take electromagnetic radiation,

在光刻法里，我们使用电磁辐射，

or what we tend to call light,

或者，我们更倾向于叫光，

and we use it to shrink down some of that circuitry,

我们用它来缩小电路的一些部分，

so that we could cram more of it into a really small space.

这样我们可以在一个非常小的 空间里塞进更多的电路。

Now, how does this work?

那么，这是如何运作的呢？

Well, we start with a substrate

我们从一个有一层

that has a light-sensitive film on it.

感光膜覆盖的基底开始。

We then cover it with a mask that has a pattern on top of it

然后我们用一张膜把它盖住，

of fine lines and features

膜上面有一些

that are going to make the phone work the way that we want it to.

用来定制手机功能的 细线和特性的图案。

We then expose a bright light and shine it through this mask,

接着我们让基底暴露在 一束明亮的光下，

which creates a shadow of that pattern on the surface.

在表面上留下一个阴影的图案。

Now, anywhere that the light can get through the mask,

任何光透过的地方，

it's going to cause a chemical reaction to occur.

都将会引起一个化学反应。

And that's going to burn the image of that pattern into the substrate.

并且会将图案的图像烙进基底里。

So the question you're probably asking is,

所以你可能想问一个问题，

how do we go from a burned image

我们如何从一个烧出来的图像

to clean fine lines and features?

得到干净的线条和特征？

And for that, we have to use a chemical solution

要实现这个目的， 我们必须使用一种

called the developer.

叫显影剂的化学溶液。

Now the developer is special.

这种显影剂比较特别。

What it can do is take all of the nonexposed areas

它的作用是将没有曝光的区域

and remove them selectively,

有选择性的去除掉，

leaving behind clean fine lines and features,

留下干净的线条和特征，

and making our miniaturized devices work.

让我们的小型设备正常工作。

So, we've used chemistry now to build up our devices,

所以，现在我们已经使用 化学打造出了我们的设备，

and we've used it to shrink down our devices.

也用它缩小了我们的设备。

So I've probably convinced you that chemistry is the true hero,

所以我可能已经说服了你们， 化学才是真正的英雄，

and we could wrap it up there.

那我们就可以到这里结束了。

(Applause)

（掌声）

Hold on, we're not done.

等一下，还没有。

Not so fast.

没这么快。

Because we're all human.

因为我们都是人类。

And as a human, I always want more.

作为一个人类，我总是想要更多。

And so now I want to think about how to use chemistry

所以现在我想思考如何使用化学

to extract more out of a device.

从一个设备中提取出更多的东西。

Right now, we're being told that we want something called 5G,

现在，我们知道了我们想造 5G，

or the promised fifth generation of wireless.

或者说承诺的第五代无线技术。

Now, you might have heard of 5G

你应该已经在商业领域听说过，

in commercials that are starting to appear.

5G 已经开始出现了。

Or maybe some of you even experienced it

或者你们中的一些人也许已经在

in the 2018 winter Olympics.

2018 年冬奥会体验过了。

What I'm most excited about for 5G

5G 最使我兴奋的是，

is that, when I'm late, running out of the house to catch a plane,

当我迟到了，冲出家门去赶飞机，

I can download movies onto my device in 40 seconds

我可以用 40 秒 下载电影到我的手机上，

as opposed to 40 minutes.

而不是 40 分钟。

But once true 5G is here,

但是一旦 5G 真的来了，

it's going to be a lot more than how many movies

比起我们可以 放多少部电影在手机里，

we can put on our device.

它实际上有更深远的意义。

So the question is, why is true 5G not here?

那么问题来了， 为什么真正的 5G 还没来？

And I'll let you in on a little secret.

我想与你们分享一个小秘密。

It's pretty easy to answer.

这个问题很好回答。

It's just plain hard to do.

只是因为太难了。

You see, if you use those traditional materials and copper

想想看，如果你用 那些传统的材料和铜

to build 5G devices,

来制造 5G 设备，

the signal can't make it to its final destination.

信号并不能到达它的终点。

Traditionally, we use really rough insulating layers

传统上，我们用非常粗糙的绝缘层

to support copper wires.

来使铜线发挥作用。

Think about Velcro fasteners.

想象一下尼龙搭扣。

It's the roughness of the two pieces that make them stick together.

是粗糙度让两片东西能相互粘牢。

That's pretty important if you want to have a device

如果你想要一个设备， 它的续航的时间

that's going to last longer

比你把它从盒子里拿出来，

than it takes you to rip it out of the box

并开始安装所有 的应用程序要长的话，

and start installing all of your apps on it.

这一点就非常重要。

But this roughness causes a problem.

但是这种粗糙度引起了一个问题。

You see, at the high speeds for 5G

在 5G 的高速下，

the signal has to travel close to that roughness.

信号不得不靠近粗糙面传输。

And it makes it get lost before it reaches its final destination.

那么在到达终点前它就会损失殆尽。

Think about a mountain range.

想象一个山脉，

And you have a complex system of roads that goes up and over it,

环绕着一条错综复杂的道路系统，

and you're trying to get to the other side.

你试图到达山的那一边。

Don't you agree with me

那么你们同不同意，

that it would probably take a really long time,

跟挖一条笔直的隧道，

and you would probably get lost,

直接穿过山脉相比，

if you had to go up and down all of the mountains,

翻山越岭

as opposed to if you just drilled a flat tunnel

要花上很长时间，

that could go straight on through?

而且还可能会迷路？

Well it's the same thing in our 5G devices.

这就是 5G 设备所面临的问题。

If we could remove this roughness,

如果我们可以去掉这个粗糙面，

then we can send the 5G signal

就可以让 5G 信号

straight on through uninterrupted.

笔直穿过媒介而不受干扰。

Sounds pretty good, right?

听起来不错，是吧？

But hold on.

但是等一下。

我有没有告诉你们， 我们需要那个粗糙面

Didn't I just tell you that we needed that roughness

来保持设备相互连接？

to keep the device together?

如果我们去掉了这部分， 就无法将铜固定在

And if we remove it, we're in a situation where now the copper

下面的基底上。

isn't going to stick to that underlying substrate.

Think about building a house of Lego blocks,

想象用乐高积木搭建一个房子，

with all of the nooks and crannies that latch together,

相比于光滑的积木块，

as opposed to smooth building blocks.

乐高积木的所有边边角角 都是嵌合在一起的。

Which of the two is going to have more structural integrity

当两岁的小孩闯进客厅，

when the two-year-old comes ripping through the living room,

试图扮演哥斯拉， 并且把所有东西都拆掉，

trying to play Godzilla and knock everything down?

这两个中哪一个的结构 会更稳固呢？

But what if we put glue on those smooth blocks?

但是如果我们 在光滑的积木块上用胶水呢？

And that's what the industry is waiting for.

这就是行业目前在等待的东西。

They're waiting for the chemists to design new, smooth surfaces

他们在等化学家们为某些铜线设计出

with increased inherent adhesion

增加了固有粘着力的

for some of those copper wires.

新的、光滑的表面。

And when we solve this problem,

当我们解决了这个问题——

and we will solve the problem,

我们一定会解决这个问题——

and we'll work with physicists and engineers

然后我们会跟物理学家 和工程师一起合作，

to solve all of the challenges of 5G,

解决 5G 的所有挑战，

well then the number of applications is going to skyrocket.

然后应用程序的数量 就会呈爆发性增长。

So yeah, we'll have things like self-driving cars,

是的，我们将会有像 自动驾驶汽车一样的应用，

because now our data networks can handle the speeds

因为现在我们的数据网络 可以应对这个速度，

and the amount of information required to make that work.

并且信息的数量也 需要使它达到这个速度。

But let's start to use imagination.

但是，再让我们来想象一下。

I can imagine going into a restaurant with a friend that has a peanut allergy,

比如，我和一个对花生 过敏的朋友走进一家餐厅,

taking out my phone,

拿出我的手机，

waving it over the food

对着食物晃一下，

and having the food tell us

然后让食物来帮助我们

a really important answer to a question --

回答一个非常重要的问题——

deadly or safe to consume?

这个食物是致命的还是安全的？

Or maybe our devices will get so good

或者我们的设备能够

at processing information about us,

非常好的处理这些信息，

that they'll become like our personal trainers.

这样它们就成为了我们的个人助理，

And they'll know the most efficient way for us to burn calories.

能够了解对于我们 燃烧卡路里最有效的方式。

I know come November,

我知道到了十一月，

when I'm trying to burn off some of these pregnancy pounds,

当我试图减掉一部分 因为怀孕长胖的体重，

I would love a device that could tell me how to do that.

我会很高兴有一个设备 可以告诉我该怎么做。

I really don't know another way of saying it,

除了说，化学真的太酷了，

except chemistry is just cool.

我不知道还有什么别的方式 来形容它的神奇。

And it enables all of these electronic devices.

它使这些所有 的电子设备成为了可能。

So the next time you send a text or take a selfie,

所以下一次当你发信息 或者自拍的时候，

think about all those atoms that are hard at work

想一想所有努力工作的原子，

and the innovation that came before them.

和在它们之前的革新。

Who knows,

谁知道呢，

maybe even some of you listening to this talk,

也许你们当中的一些人，

perhaps even on your mobile device,

甚至通过移动设备，

will decide that you too want to play sidekick

也会决定要协助 电子设备真正的英雄，

to Captain Chemistry,

化学队长，

the true hero of electronic devices.

贡献自己的一份力量。

Thank you for your attention,

谢谢大家的聆听，

and thank you chemistry.

谢谢化学。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）