There has been some speculation on this board that MS7 will lead to the first successful commercialization of POET. I’m currently working on an alternate theory that might make the nearly forgotten OE interface the first.

Again, this is just my theory – for fun, so feel free to poke holes!

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Back when the second corporate presentation (CP) was released, we had two commercialization opportunities to look forward to: The IR sensor (IR) and the OE interface (OE).The newer presentations do not focus on these products, which I’m guessing is to ensure that the breadth of POET is not overshadowed by only 2 examples of POET’s capabilities. (***keep in mind, we really don’t know why the items in here were removed for the newer presentation)

The old CP can be viewed in its entirety here: http://www.odisinc.com/documents/other/OPEL%20June%202012.pdf

Below are the screenshots of the slides which outline what milestones are needed to produce each product.I also added the old milestone sequence to make a point.

OE interface requirements:

IR sensor requirements:

Outdated MS timeline:

First, notice how soon the optical component demo was originally scheduled back when the IR was predicted to be the first commercial product.Compared with the updated MS timeline, it appears that expectations for completing the IR have been pushed farther to the future (or other milestones have, relatively speaking, been brought forward).This was the only remaining component for the IR to be ready for licensing, yet it was delayed . . .

Now note that we have the recent statement by Peter Copetti:

“SSC deemed Milestone 6 to be critical for our commercialization activities, and staff focused on this milestone.. That we achieved Milestone 6 so quickly spotlights the caliber of the POET team, and our ability to execute and to pivot to industry needs”

The most current CP was revised and released in Q2 – very recently - yet the SSC decided to turn on its heel and push onward to MS6 (past MS5 which confusingly didn’t seem to be integral for either of the 2 proposed commercial products).So why was MS6 pursued ahead of MS5?

Looking at the chart for the OE, it would look like perhaps it has taken the lead in the commercialization race.MS3 and MS6and the first and third of the 3 required milestones, respectively.All that remains is the modulator (MS8) before serious commercialization can take place.

So I ask, will MS8 come before MS7?

It will be interesting to see what other alterations the SSC might deem important in the coming months.

BUT . . . there may be another possibility.What if there is a third commercial application that never made it onto any CP?

Evidence for this is the added MS4 – p/n channel RF CHFETs.At first I thought this may have been added to make it appealing to mobile device manufacturers and fabs.But remember this?

https://ehb8.gsfc.nasa.gov/sbir/public/documentDownload?severFile=briefchart.pdf&proposalId=SBIR_10_P2_104273&docType=BRIEFCHART

This seems like a good motive for adding MS4.OPEL is currently working with NASA on a phased array for both imaging and communications. It's worth noting that OPEL's work with NASA hadn't started (much to our chagrin) when the now-defunct 2012 CP was written with our 2 commercial product opportunities.

Didn’t we just hear from two sources (Lee and Byron) about POET-based arrays which could receive and then instantaneously emit light?Sounds compatible with this NASA device to me.It also seems compatible with the MS requirements for the OE interface (compare the “market potential” section of the OE page with the NASA and non-NASA applications on the NASA quad chart).

So in summary, I think based on recent events and older information, I think it's plausible that the OE could have taken precedence over the IR. I think it's also plausible that another product for NASA my have taken precedence over both.