DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of group II, claims 11-16, 18-20 in the reply filed on 01/20/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that (1) Shieh does not disclose adjusting resonator to accommodate arbitrary frequencies that are not regularly spaced and (2) Shieh does not disclose adjusting a mirror spacing such that a predetermined laser frequency differs from a resonant frequency by less than a predetermined target value, the value being numerical. This is not found persuasive because:
The claim does not recite “arbitrary frequencies” nor “not regular spaced” frequencies, making the argument moot.
Shieh teaches the goal of the device is to lock each laser’s wavelength to its associated FSR frequency mode of the resonator (col.5 lines 48-52). Each FSR frequency mode has a width of 30MHz (fig.4). The process involves finding a difference between the lasers’ wavelengths and the associated centers of the FSR frequency modes by calculating a difference (col.5 lines 13-16). Therefore, the “predetermined laser frequencies” are those of lamba1-lambdaN (fig.1), each predetermined frequency is compared to a center of a FSR frequency mode by finding a difference between the two values, wherein adjustment is made until the laser frequency is locked to the FSR frequency mode (i.e. the calculated difference is within 15Mhz; which is ½ the width of the FSR frequency mode as the difference is calculated from the center of the mode), which means the “predetermined target value” is a numerical value which exceeds 15MHz in the calculated difference (as within 15MHz the laser would be locked to the FSR frequency mode).
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Page 36 describes the coatings on the second cavity mirror of figures 9a and 10a however the element numbers used in the specification to describe the coatings does not match the element numbers found in figures 9a and 10a.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 13 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The term “substantially” in claim 13 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “substantially” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
As “substantially” is not defined in the specification it will be interpreted to mean a material that fits at least one of the listed parameters in claim 13.
The terms “highly”, “weakly” in claim 16 are relative terms which renders the claim indefinite. The terms “highly”, “weakly” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
As “highly”, “weakly” are not defined in the specification they will be interpreted to mean (1) highly = more than 50% and (2) weakly = less than 50%.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 11, 12, 18 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shieh (US 6240109) in view of Niu et al. (CN 106602396; English translation provided in this Office action).
With respect to claim 11, Shieh teaches a system for outputting stabilized light (fig.1) comprising: an apparatus for simultaneously stabilizing light from N lasers (fig.1 LD1-LDn) at N respective mutually different predetermined frequencies fis i = 1,… N, (fig.1 lambda1-lambdaN) the apparatus comprising: a spacer (fig.2 piezo and/or substrate and/or air, col.6 lines 13-18) and two mirrors (fig.2 #201 on left and #201 on right), wherein the two mirrors are arranged to form an optical resonator for the plurality of predetermined frequencies (col.4 lines 7-17), a distance between the two mirrors depends on a length of the spacer (col.6 lines 13-18), and the length of the spacer is reversibly adjustable (necessarily so based on use of piezo with +/- voltage and temperature control with +/- temperatures); and a control circuitry configured to adjust the distance between the two mirrors to a stabilization length (fig.1 elements within #150 other than #106), wherein, at the stabilization length, there is, for each predetermined frequency fs, a resonant frequency fr of the optical resonator for which a difference between the predetermined frequency fi and the resonant frequency fr is smaller than a predetermined target value (Shieh teaches the goal of the device is to lock each laser’s wavelength to its associated FSR frequency mode of the resonator,col.5 lines 48-52. Each FSR frequency mode has a width of 30MHz, fig.4. The process involves finding a difference between the lasers’ wavelengths and the associated centers of the FSR frequency modes by calculating a difference, col.5 lines 13-16. Each predetermined frequency is compared to a center of a FSR frequency mode by finding a difference between the two values, wherein adjustment is made until the laser frequency is locked to the FSR frequency mode (i.e. the calculated difference is within 15Mhz; which is ½ the width of the FSR frequency mode as the difference is calculated from the center of the mode), which means the “predetermined target value” is a numerical value which exceeds 15MHz in the calculated difference, as within 15MHz the laser would be locked to the FSR frequency mode). Shieh does not teach the length of the spacer is reversibly adjustable within a range of at least 40 µm. Niu teaches a related laser device (fig.1) which makes use of an etalon (fig.1 E1/E2) which has an adjustable gap with an adjustment range more than 100um (“as shown in FIG. 5. wherein the length d of the Fabry Perot etalon is the distance between mirror E1 and mirror E2, changing range of length d is 0.1 mm to 1 mm”). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing of the instant application to adapt the system of Shieh such that the spacer length (i.e. etalon gap) is adjustable within a range of at least 40um as Niu has demonstrated such an etalon adjustment range is useful for controlling spectral characteristics of the device (Niu, fig.5) and would allow for a wide etalon tuning range to enable use of alternate wavelength input laser sources.
With respect to claim 12, Shieh, as modified, teaches the length of the spacer is adjustable by at least 40 µm by increasing or decreasing a temperature of the spacer (col.6 lines 13-17); and/or adjusting a length of a piezo element of the spacer (col.6 lines 13-17).
With respect to claim 18, Shieh, as modified, teaches the control circuitry is configured to adjust the distance between the two mirrors to the stabilization length in accordance with a frequency of a reference laser (fig.2 via LDx/LDy, col.5 line 55 – col.6 line 20).
With respect to claim 19, Shieh, as modified, teaches the apparatus comprises an optical input for feeding input light (fig.1 #101.1-101.n, 103, 104, 105) and thereby to generate N error signals (fig.5); and wherein the control circuitry is configured to generate, based on the N error signals, electronic feedback for the N lasers (fig.1 via #109, fig.5).
Claim(s) 13-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shieh and Niu in view of Sargent et al. (US 2004/0070833).
With respect to claim 13, Shieh, as modified, teaches the device outlined above, but does not teach the spacer is substantially made of material(s) with a coefficient of thermal expansion that is larger than 16 ppm/°C, a stiffness larger than 10 GPa, and/or a damping tangent larger than 0.001. Sargent teaches an etalon (fig.2a/b) which includes a spacer (fig.2b #24) and that the spacer can be of metal, such as aluminum, in order to allow for temperature tuning the etalon gap ([0055]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing of the instant application to make use of a spacer of metal, such as aluminum, as demonstrated by Sargent for a/the spacer material of Shieh in order to provide a material demonstrated to enable effective temperature tuning (Sargent, [0055]) as desired by Shieh (col.6 lines 13-18).
Note that aluminum has a coefficient of thermal expansion larger than 16ppm/C (~23).
With respect to claim 14, Shieh, as modified, teaches the device outlined above, but does not teach the spacer is made of at least 99.8% magnesium. Sargent teaches an etalon (fig.2a/b) which includes a spacer (fig.2b #24) and that the spacer can be of metal in order to allow for temperature tuning the etalon gap ([0055]). Sargent does not specify 99.8% Mg. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing of the instant application to make use of a spacer of metal, such as 99.8% Mg, as Sargent has demonstrated metals provide characteristics demonstrated to enable effective temperature tuning (Sargent, [0055]) as desired by Shieh (col.6 lines 13-18) and the choice of 99.8% Mg would amount to substituting equivalent materials know for the same purpose (MPEP 2144.06 II) and/or would be obvious since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 227 F.2d 197, 125 USPQ 416 (CCPA 1960). (MPEP 2144.07).
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shieh and Niu in view of Shang et al. (CN 103887700; Applicant submitted prior art).
With respect to claim 15, Shieh, as modified, teaches the device outlined above, including use of a piezo element (fig.2) which is used to adjust the distance between the two mirrors (col.4 lines 35-37), but does not teach the piezo element is between one of the two mirrors and the spacer. Shang teaches a related system used to lock plural lasers to particular frequencies by making use of an etalon (fig.1), wherein the etalon is formed of two mirrors (fig.2 #112/115) with a spacer (fig.2 #113) and a piezo (fig.2 #114) between one of the two mirrors and the spacer. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing of the instant application to adapt the system of Shieh such that the piezo is between a mirror and the spacer (rather than on an outer mirror surface) as demonstrated by Shang in order to provide an alternate arrangement of the parts while providing the same system function (see MPEP 2144.05 IV C) and allowing for access to the mirror for further coatings, etc..
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shieh and Niu in view of Oguri et al. (US 2004/0066809).
With respect to claim 16, Shieh, as modified, teaches the device outlined above, including the use of two central mirrors to form the resonator (fig.2), but does not teach a first mirror, which is one of the two mirrors, has a highly-reflecting inner surface and a weakly-reflecting outer surface; a second mirror, which is that mirror of the two mirrors that is not the first mirror, has a highly-reflecting inner surface and an anti-reflecting outer surface; and the optical resonator is formed by the highly-reflecting inner surface of the first mirror and the highly-reflecting inner surface of the second mirror. Oguri teaches an etalon (fig.23) which includes a first mirror (fig.23 #527/532/534), which is one of the two mirrors, has a highly-reflecting inner surface (fig.23 #534, 90%, [0369]) and a weakly-reflecting outer surface (fig.23 #537, 33%, [0370]); a second mirror (fig.23 #535/533/unlabeled coating), which is that mirror of the two mirrors that is not the first mirror, has a highly-reflecting inner surface (fig.23 #535, 90%, [0369]) and an anti-reflecting outer surface (fig.5 unlabeled outer coating, [0372]); and the optical resonator is formed by the highly-reflecting inner surface of the first mirror and the highly-reflecting inner surface of the second mirror ([0369, 373] devices forms “resonator”/”cavity” between 90% mirrors in center). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing of the instant application to adapt the etalon of Shieh to make use of the mirror types of Oguri having an extra weakly reflecting mirror and an AR mirror in order to provide the option of redirecting light to another element such as a detector (Oguri, fig.22 #516) and reducing unwanted reflections at the output of the resonator.
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shieh and Niu in view of Milani et al. (“Multiple wavelength stabilization on a single optical cavity using the offset sideband locking technique”; Applicant submitted prior art).
With respect to claim 20, Shieh, as modified, teaches the device outlined above, including one or more taps (fig.1 #101.101.n) for splitting light emitted by the N lasers into a first beam (fig.1 output to WDM #160) and a second beam (fig.1 input to #103), wherein the second beam is the input light to be fed to the apparatus in order to the generate N error signals; and wherein either:
-the control circuitry is configured to stabilize simultaneously the N lasers to emit light at the respective resonant frequencies fr, and the system further comprises one or more frequency shifters for shifting frequencies of the first beam to the respective predetermined frequencies fs; or
-the control circuitry is configured to stabilize simultaneously the N lasers to emit light at the respective predetermined frequencies fs, and the system further comprises one or more frequency shifters for shifting frequencies of the second beam to the respective resonant frequencies fr (dithering each laser constitutes frequency shifting, fig.4, col.2 lines 9-23). Shieh does not teach the use of beam splitters for splitting off the light. Milani teaches a related system for laser frequency control (fig.1) which includes both frequency shifters (fig.1 SHG 399, SHG 556) and the use of beam splitters for optical coupling (fig.1 as seen in ‘optical bench’). It would have been obvious to make use of beam splitters in place of the taps of Shieh in order to provide an alternate means of redirecting the light thereby accomplishing the same purpose of the taps of Shieh (see MPEP 2144.06 II) allowing for a design choice to make use of free space optics.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Please see the included PTO892 form for a list of related art.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TOD THOMAS VAN ROY whose telephone number is (571)272-8447. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 8AM-430PM.
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/TOD T VAN ROY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2828