vcselrev said: "size is everything and it diminishes cost benefits, so nothimg is linear here, but a factor 1000 base material cost disadvantage for GaAs is always a considerable issue. Given the difference in abundance with silicon making up most of the earth's crust, this metric is unlikely to change."
Not sure that is a viable argument.
From IEEE article "Thick Film Makes Gallium Aresenide Cheaper": A 6-inch wafer of gallium arsenide costs about US $200, whereas a 200-millimeter wafer of silicon goes for roughly $40."
Material cost factor of 1000 to 1 may apply to when comparable quantities of raw material are being used as an aggregate, for example, to fill a pothole, but POET process requires minute amounts of material and it would seem the 1/10x packaging and monolithic fab would substantially reduce material cost further. The 5 to 1 cost described by the article excerpt is indicative that material costs will not be a significant detriment, given a yield of thousands of dies per wafer. And that fails to take into account all of the other advantages including energy consumption that factor into this.
