The market needs to digest the significance of this announcement.
In terms of the technical achievements in today’s news release. This is the first time that POET design rules have been used to produce a monolithic opto-electronics chip in a fabrication facility. Prior to this the integration of active and passive optical components along with electronic components had only been achieved in the POET lab. It is major accomplishment and lays the groundwork for the numerous applications that POET can be used for.
Dr. Geoff Taylor said, "Our successful fabrication of a functioning integrated optoelectronic device, using the Poet platform, should be considered a major breakthrough for Poet and the industry." “ POET will be the future platform for integrated IR and many other device systems."
As per the commercialization plan this is a big step and part of the big picture and BAE has made a significant statement in endorsing this technology.
Dr. Pane Chao, technical director at BAE Systems' Microelectronics Center. "BAE Systems' relationship with Poet Technologies is mutually beneficial in that we are able to supply foundry services while being exposed to this rapidly evolving capability."
From the 20-F
Commercialization
The Company will focus first on the simplest products that can make its POET process stand out. To achieve this, the Company anticipates teaming with partners to produce and deliver POET driven devices into the military market segment in order to obtain high visibility quickly and to achieve the fast sales ramp-up in the commercial segment.
First Phase: Initial Prototypes and Initial Production
Initial prototype devices meeting commercial requirements are anticipated to be produced in sufficient quantities during the POET transition program utilizing the BAE fabrication facility. Prototypes such as the infrared sensor now in development with BAE for military testing and use are targeted to be used to introduce the POET platform process to the marketplace and to enable the Company to gain access to potential customers and seek early commercial design wins. Having a third party manufacture infrared sensors will help serve to validate POET and should provide momentum to seek design wins.
Second Phase: Production
The Company’s manufacturing model is to be fabless, meaning that we will partner with third party semiconductor fabrication facilities to produce the POET IC devices. As vertical market partnerships may be established, we anticipate those partnerships would seek to either utilize the BAE facility or another facility of their choosing to meet their volume fabrication needs, leveraging off of the prototypes expected to be manufactured at the BAE facility. To the extent that POET is successfully introduced and demand dictates, the Company intends to continue to improve on its ability to provide cost effective product by utilizing well known, commercial market-focused fabrication facilities worldwide.
