Agreed, Fairchij.
Let me add that there is no timeline for mass production, probably because there are too many uncertainties yet. The use of EUV (extreme ultraviolet light) might be an issue, because present EUV sources don't have enough power, leading to longer illumination times and thus hampering a fast mass production.
There's also no statement about the costs. This might have to do with the aforementioned uncertainties. However, I think we can safely assume that these costs will be enormous. Experts are saying that the cost per transistor is lowest at 28 nm and higher with smaller node sizes.
Anyway, even considering all these difficulties, this is a tremendous success, and we should applaude IBM for this leap and for outpacing its competition, which is still struggling at 10 nm.
Overall, the industry has several dimensions for possible improvements:
- Smaller node sizes, now 7 nm
- Improved materials, like silicon-germanium or gallium arsenide
- Monolithically conquering the third dimension (CoolCube)
- Monolithic optoelectronical integration (POET)
- New devices, including optical and quantum (POET)
Progress on all of these dimensions – be they in the POET labs or elsewhere – is paving the way for faster, better and more sophisticated POET chips.
