POET Technologies Inc of Toronto, Canada – which, through subsidiary OPEL Defense Integrated Systems (ODIS Inc) of Storrs, CT, USA, has developed the proprietary planar-optoelectronic technology (POET) platform for monolithic fabrication of integrated III-V-based electronic and optical devices on a single semiconductor wafer – has announced an addition to its key staff and a rapid expansion of intellectual property (IP) assets. The firm has filed new IP portfolio protection documents with the US Patent and Trademark office (USPTO) and in other key jurisdictions to support strategic applications in POET-based quantum computing.
Daniel DeSimone is joining POET's laboratories as VP, product development. He was most recently senior manager, Test and Wafer Sort Engineering, at Fairchild Semiconductor, where his team achieved significant increases in quality and yield during wafer production in several 0.5 and 0.35 micron CMOS/BiCMOS/bipolar technologies. In addition to manufacturing experience, DeSimone has experience in two distinct areas:
strategic product roadmap definition, addressing server and storage vertical markets; and broad integrated circuit development, encompassing analog mixed-signal through large digital application-specific integrated circuits.
"Over the last few months, the company has moved dramatically from proof-of-principle through lab device demonstration, full third-party validation with a commercial foundry, and working with select potential partners on technical design kits," says executive chairman & interim CEO Peter Copetti. "We are entering a new parallel stage - increasing quality and design robustness for manufacturability as part of commercialization of our game-changing IP - and Mr DeSimone's combined experience is exactly what we need to assist the team in moving to the next level," he adds.
The firm is also announcing a key expansion of its IP asset base. It already has a large inventory of key and ancillary patents protecting its unique platform for monolithic fabrication of integrated circuit devices containing both electronic and optical elements on a single semiconductor wafer (details of the existing portfolio are available through USPTO).
In addition, the firm recently filed for protection a number of new IP classes with USPTO, as well as in Canada, Japan, Korea, and other key jurisdictions.
"The commercialization process of the company's POET platform has historically yielded intellectual assets with future commercial development potential meriting IP protection," says Copetti. "While the company has focused assets and effort on near-term commercialization goals, our labs are generating future IP as well."
The new portfolio includes:
Closed Loop Rectangular Resonators in POET & Thyristor Memory (OPE-069; 14/238,649; PCT/US12/51265; EPO 12824167.6); Fiber Optic Coupling Array (OPE-070; 14/104,230; PCT/US13/74658); Quantum Dot Lasers in POET for 1310-1550nm Operation (OPE-072; 13/921,311); Universal Memory Cell in POET for DRAM, SRAM and NVRAM Applications (OPE-073; 13/951,578); IR Imaging Structures in POET based on Quantum Dot Epitaxy (OPE-074; 14/023,525); and Whispering Gallery Mode Resonators in the Planar OptoElectronic Technology; and Implementation of 1550 nm Optoelectronics in the Planar OptoElectronic Technology (OPE-075; PROV 61/962,303; 14/222,841).
"In this latest round of patent applications, the company has filed patent protection for IP that, in the medium-to-long-term, supports theoretical quantum computing applications, such as the fabrication of quantum-dot-based spin qubits and the devices needed to read and write them on the same die," says Copetti. "With POET integrated optoelectronics, we are already ahead of the curve," he reckons.
A qubit (quantum bit, the unit of information in quantum computing) is the quantum analog of a bit in a classical computing system, which would have to be in one of two states. Quantum mechanics allows a qubit to be in a superposition of both states at the same time (a property that is fundamental to quantum computing).
The new patent applications are for medium-to-long-term strategic positioning, and are complementary to the core POET intellectual assets.
