Brightech: Nonetheless the industry has shown an interest in optical processing but at the same time, a reluctance to change from silicon to a superior semiconductor.

That's what I really like about the recent shift and putting the focus on optical interconnects. Not only are optical interconnects a low-hanging fruit, but perhaps even more important: POET does no longer come as a competitor to silicon, as a threat that must be parried, but instead as a useful supplement that is very welcome and appreciated, because it unlocks the performance potential of leading edge silicon and helps current silicon shine – of course without precluding full POET solutions, coming later.

POET Technologies puts it like this is the most recent MD&A:

The 50th anniversary of Moore’s Law has just past and the general consensus of the industry continues to be that silicon-based semiconductor technology is being pushed to its limits. Despite the progress being made in silicon technology at the leading edge, interconnect bottlenecks remain and the ability of copper interconnects (commonly used in leading edge semiconductor technologies and printed circuit boards) to sustain the ever increasing bandwidth requirements are limited and power hungry. To unlock the performance potential of leading edge silicon (and lower power consumption), the industry is in need of new technology that augments existing silicon technologies and provides high bandwidth optical interconnects, thus unlocking the full potential of the silicon transistors.

High bandwidth interconnect requirements are typically addressed using optical technology. Optics are currently the norm in the Telecom industry for very high speed communications over large distances. The transition to optical interconnects has also happened in data centers and the need to extend optical communications to high performance silicon chips continues to build.

The Company has developed a unique, proprietary process that addresses the deficiencies of speed, size, integration, power and cost efficiency associated with current opto-electronic semiconductor manufacturing technologies. The development of its solution has been designed in such a manner that the process can be accommodated in existing semiconductor fabs with minimum re-tooling, thus potentially reducing capital expenditures required to adopt POET’s process technologies.