There’s been lots of speculation around why there was a strategic change and one of the focuses of this change that seems to bothering people is that they did an additional non-platform lot (which they explained as a bonus that they secured through negotiation with IMEC). There also is some consternation about the fact that there is another non-platform lot being developed right now.
my take on this:
They’d be mad not to do another non-integrated lot. They’ve just achieved their best results - so of course they should try and push things further. whilst I am absolutely no expert, my understanding is that they can still be working on the integration whilst also ensuring the best possible performance from any cell that they ultimately hope to successfully integrate. Once the integration process is sorted then they will be able to integrate any of their cells, whether it be the recent record achieving recipe or any subsequent iteration.
so improving the cell is only a positive thing. If the results of this next lot show further improvements - great!
I also interpret the fact that they’re progressing to incorporating transistors as proof that the first integration process was successful. If it wasn’t, common sense would suggest that they wouldn’t be moving onto more complex steps until the basic platform was solid. Perhaps, as postulated above, it was only successful because of HGST’s input, but 4DS only specifically describe their input into the record breaking non-integrated lot.
So I tend to align my thoughts regarding the reasoning for their sudden increased involvement with Hash’s - it’s a good thing and represents things moving towards their conclusion.
