Author: Tian Liang
1February 16, official website, China Institute of Information and Communication, released the White Paper on Broadband Development in China, which wrote: By the end of September 2022, China had 550 million optical fiber users, ranking first in the world.
These 550 million users can use high-quality optical fiber communication, thanks to one person-Zhao Zisen, "the father of optical fiber in China".
Just the day before the publication of the white paper, Zhao Zisen died in Wuhan at the age of 90. China has lost a banner in the field of communication.
Pull out China's first optical fiber next to the toilet.
1974, 528 Factory of Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications merged with Wuhan Institute of Posts and Telecommunications to form Wuhan Institute of Posts and Telecommunications, and Zhao Zisen was the deputy director of Ren Guang Institute of Communication.
Optical communication was a new frontier discipline at that time.
Resources were limited at that time. Among the key development projects of Wuhan Institute of Posts and Telecommunications, millimeter wave is the most important, while Zhao Zisen's optical communication project can only be "sidelined" and there is no formal laboratory. He can only do scientific research in the chemical cleaning room next to the toilet.
No matter how hard the conditions are, they are nothing in front of him.
1966, he read the paper "Optical Frequency Dielectric Fiber Surface Waveguide" by British Chinese scientist Gao Kun, in which he wrote that if the loss of glass fiber is low enough, it can be used for communication. This made him a treasure, and he was keenly aware that it was a favorable opportunity for China to catch up with the world in communication technology.
After many investigations, he suggested to the leaders of the 528 factory that optical fiber research should be included in the scientific research plan of the factory. As a result, most people, including the leaders of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, opposed it.
Some leaders questioned: "How do glass filaments communicate? Zhao Zisen, don't mess around. It will cost tens of millions. Are you responsible? "
According to Zhao Zisen's memory, only a few leaders, such as Zhou Huasheng, then deputy director of the Science and Technology Department of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, expressed their support and said, "You can try."
Since it is an "attempt", the scale of investment can be imagined. "I have very little money, only a few people, such as Huang Dingguo, Tang, and. Without a formal laboratory, we will do chemical experiments in the clean room next to the toilet in the experimental building. " Zhao Yusen said.
Zhao Zisen developed optical fiber in Wuhan Institute of Posts and Telecommunications in his early years.
In order to reduce the loss of light energy caused by optical fiber, the synthetic ultra-pure time should be used instead of the ordinary natural time.
Without any reference, the purification work is extremely difficult, and Zhao Zisen can only grope his way forward step by step. Injuries in experiments are also common.
In an experiment, he accidentally sprayed silicon tetrachloride liquid into his right eye. Because the chlorine concentration was too high, his eyes ached and he fainted. Colleagues rushed him to the hospital.
When I arrived at the hospital, the doctors were stunned. I have never seen such a situation, and I will not be cured. At Zhao Zisen's suggestion, the doctor washed his eyes with distilled water and then gave him an intravenous drip to relieve inflammation. His eyes were so small that Zhao Zisen ran back to do the experiment before he recovered.
Due to the poor conditions, Zhao Zisen's team used alcohol lamp to heat and purify at first, but there was no reaction. Later, it was heated by graphite furnace. It was not until 12 graphite furnace was added that some white powder was obtained.
Everyone was very happy and thought it was timely. Results After chemical analysis, it was known that it was silica gel containing water.
There have been dozens of such failures.
Zhao Zisen asked his colleagues to visit Shanghai Yingshi Factory and other places, and learned that smelting needs a high temperature of 1400℃ to 2000℃ and a hydrogen-oxygen flame. Therefore, he used an improved in-tube chemical deposition method to manufacture ultra-pure time.
After all kinds of tempering, 1976, China's first practical, short-wavelength, step-type optical fiber was finally born.
"At that time, during the Cultural Revolution, we were isolated. Although we are not the number one in the world, we have not relied on any foreign technology to develop communication optical fibers. " Zhao Yusen recalled.
Wuhan Institute of Posts and Telecommunications.
At the "Daqing Exhibition of Industrial Science of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications" held the following year, Zhao Zisen successfully transmitted TV signals by using self-developed optical fiber, laser provided by Shanghai Optical Machinery as light source and self-designed communication system.
On the day of the preview, Fuxiang Zhong, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, and Gu Mu, Vice Premier of the State Council visited the exhibition. Fuxiang Zhong was surprised to see the demonstration of optical fiber communication. He proposed to personally remove the optical fiber and put it back to verify whether the TV signal transmitted by the optical fiber is true.
Zhao Zisen told him that because the fine-tuning mechanism used is too simple, it takes 1 hour to adjust carefully. If Minister Zhong comes next week, it can be done. A week later, Fuxiang Zhong really came and got his wish. Since then, optical fiber communication has become a key project of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.
"Zhao Zisen, how many people do you want? How much does it cost? " Ask the president of Wuhan Institute of Posts and Telecommunications.
"The hospital is understaffed." Zhao Zisen replied.
"Why?"
"Because it is necessary to establish a fiber optic cable production workshop factory; It is necessary to establish an optical device research institute to develop and produce lasers; It is necessary to expand the research and production scale of the original communication machine. "
College leaders listened to Zhao Zisen's suggestion, dismounted other projects and went all out to engage in optical fiber communication. This laid the foundation for China to catch up with the advanced world level in the future.
Nowadays, optical fiber constitutes communication network, Internet and TV network, and optical fiber communication has become a necessity for people's life and work.
I went to four universities in three years.
1932 In February, Zhao Zisen was born in an ordinary family in Shanghai, and his father was a salesman in a department store.
He is a premature baby, and his mother is only seven months pregnant. Due to premature delivery and poor medical environment, Zhao Zisen was short, weak and often sick when he was a child. "I almost died twice because of typhoid fever!"
1937, the Japanese army invaded China in an all-round way and soon came to Shanghai. My parents took eight children and fled to the British Concession under the bullets, where they rented a small attic and slept on the floor at night.
Zhao Zisen was deeply impressed by the brutality of the Japanese army and the displacement caused by the war. The teenager was determined to save the country scientifically.
My mother was once sold to a family as a maid and the head of the family was a doctor. Mother felt the importance of knowledge here, and later worked hard to provide education for every child.
Zhao Zisen, who is sickly, likes playing football in order to keep fit. As long as the summer vacation is over, he will play from morning till night and gradually develop a strong body.
At school, he likes science, especially mathematics, and is often praised by teachers for his good thinking. He also has strong hands-on ability and likes to be a model airplane.
When I was a child, Zhao Zisen was making a model plane.
He also participated in the model airplane competition in Shanghai and won the second prize. Wu Guozhen, the mayor of Shanghai, personally presented the award to him.
Because of the heavy family burden, he couldn't afford to buy toys, so he made them himself. /kloc-when I was in my teens, I took my brother to make a radio for a few days.
Because I am too keen on science and engineering, I often fail in subjects such as English, history and geography. I barely got into an ordinary high school when I was in the senior high school entrance examination.
After entering high school, Zhao Zisen understood that learning can't be based on his own temperament, and classes he doesn't like must be carefully studied.
1949 when I was admitted to the university, I was afraid to apply for science and engineering in public universities with low tuition fees, and I was afraid to apply for private universities with high tuition fees. Finally, I was admitted to the Agricultural College of Zhejiang University.
However, he was still not interested in botany, cytology and other subjects, and simply dropped out of school to take the college entrance examination again. This time, he was admitted to the Biology Department of Fudan University. No, the courses are almost the same, and he dropped out again.
With the support of his mother, he decided to go to the Department of Electrical Engineering of Datong University at his own expense. Driven by his interest, his grades here are getting better and better.
1952 national departments were adjusted, private colleges were abolished, and the Department of Electrical Engineering of Datong University was merged into the Department of Telecommunications of Shanghai Jiaotong University.
1September, 954, Zhao Zisen was assigned to a technical secondary school-Wuhan Telecom School as a teacher. At that time, many young teachers assigned to schools found it easy to teach in technical secondary schools. They often play cards and chess, while Zhao Zisen insists on studying after work every day.
He felt that the knowledge he had learned in college was too shallow to keep up with the times. In order to make up the gap, he taught himself calculus, principles of electrotechnics, principles of radio and so on. In the Soviet textbook, English, Russian, Japanese and other foreign languages were supplemented, and a concise English dictionary was memorized in just three months.
1958, Wuhan Telecom School was upgraded to Wuhan Institute of Posts and Telecommunications, and undergraduate enrollment began. Zhao Zisen also changed from a middle school teacher to a university teacher.
While teaching, he still likes doing scientific research. In a national exhibition held in 1959, his computer capable of solving third-order differential equations won the special prize.
Later, Wuhan Institute of Posts and Telecommunications was abolished and changed to the 528 Factory of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. Factory leaders see Zhao Zisen's talent in their eyes and keep it in mind.
197 1 year, the atmospheric laser communication project originally initiated by Beijing Institute of Posts and Telecommunications was transferred to Factory 528, and the factory leader asked Zhao Zisen to take the lead in this project.
He moved the antenna to the roof, corrected the antenna, and then moved the whole laser atmospheric communication equipment to the water tower of Liuduqiao, the tallest building in Wuhan at that time, and a tall building of the Institute of Water Transport Engineering, realizing "atmospheric transmission laser communication", and the effective transmission distance was rapidly increased from 8 meters to 10 km.
Zhao Zisen further thought that atmospheric transmission optical communication cannot achieve all-weather communication. In case of rain, snow, fog and other weather, the device will fail, and a "substitute" must be sought.
He learned that the United States, Britain and other countries have been studying optical fiber communication technology. After in-depth preparation, he decided to carry out the research on optical fiber communication, and put forward the technical scheme of optical fiber communication in August 1974, thus giving birth to the first optical fiber in China.
Advocate the construction of China Optical Valley
1983, Zhao Zisen was appointed as the chief engineer of Wuhan Institute of Posts and Telecommunications, and was promoted to vice president two years later. 1995 was elected as an academician of China Academy of Engineering.
He devoted his whole life to optical communication.
Optical fiber often breaks unexpectedly in long-distance transmission. He can't remember how many times he was awakened from his sleep and rushed to dozens of kilometers away to find breakpoints and repair optical fibers. Even the leader of the hospital, he is always on call, and every time he is crowded in an 8-seat van with more than 20 colleagues, he runs around.
With this momentum, can things be done?
In 1980s, he and his colleagues developed, designed, installed and opened the first optical cable local telephone communication project in China.
In the 1990s, he led his team to complete the longest aerial cable project in the world at that time-"Jing-Han-Guang Project", with a total length of 3,000 kilometers.
In May, 2000, he and 25 academicians and experts from China Academy of Sciences and Academy of Engineering jointly submitted a proposal on establishing "China Optical Valley" in Wuhan. After the approval of the following year, Wuhan became the first national optoelectronic industry base in China, and "Wuhan China Optical Valley" became famous in the world.
In 20 18, an optical fiber developed by Wuhan Institute of Posts and Telecommunications can make 6.75 billion simultaneous calls to people.
Today, Wuhan Institute of Posts and Telecommunications has developed into a central enterprise-China Xinke Group. China has become the third largest optical communication technology power in the world after the United States and Japan, occupying more than half of the global market share.
In his later years, in his spare time, Zhao Zisen mostly consulted the most advanced optical fiber communication technology at home and abroad to understand the latest trends. He also warned young people to keep pace with the times and lead the times.
Ma Weidong, assistant general manager of Wuhan Guangxun Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China Xinke, told the reporter of global person that he graduated from 1998 with a master's degree, and learned that Academician Zhao Zisen's work and research are oriented to industrial applications and major national needs, which is exactly his ambition, so he applied for Zhao Zisen's doctoral degree.
Zhao Zisen told students many times that Wuhan University of Posts and Telecommunications is our national team in the field of optical communication. Everyone must take root at the grassroots level and engage in cutting-edge research, so as to have international competitiveness and not get stuck.
"Doing research with him can always feel this patriotic feeling." Ma Weidong said.
According to Ma Weidong, other companies offered him several times the salary, but he refused.
"Taking the research work of optoelectronic chips and device technology we have done as an example, I can continue to study high-end products in depth here to enhance the core competitiveness of the country. In other companies, you may get a high salary, but you may have to do something else, pay more attention to short-term profits, and the products are mainly low-end products. This is not what I want, nor what my tutor wants. " Ma Weidong said.
As Zhao Zisen said before his death, young people must study hard and be innovative in order to continue to prosper in the new era of China.
Chief producer: Lv Hong
Producer: Zhang Jiankui
Editor: Xu
Editor: Su Rui