DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Specification Objection
The specification is objected to because [0044] mentions reference number 118 which does not appear in the drawings.
Claim Objections (informalities)
Claims 9 and 18 are objected to because they recite a frequency selected from a list of wavelengths. Since frequency is inversely proportional to wavelength, claims 9 and 18 should refer to one or the other.
Claims 10 and 19 are objected to because they recite "alumina nitride" and "alumina oxide" instead of "aluminum nitride" and "aluminum oxide".
Claim 13 is objected to because it includes the term "waveguide". Note that base claim 11 does not specify that the resonator is a waveguide resonator.
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.
Claims 3, 7, 9, 14-16, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 3, 7, and 16 are indefinite because each claim recites at least one instance of the term "around" but the disclosure provides no guidance as to how much variation is permitted. As one example, it is not apparent whether "around 2 meters" in claim 3 should be construed to cover a length as low as 1 m or lower, or as high as 3 m or higher. Note MPEP 2173.05(b).
Claims 9, 14-15, and 18 are indefinite because they include recitations with no apparent connection to base claims 1 or 11. Claims 9 and 18 recite ranges for a laser optical frequency but no laser is mentioned in claims 1 or 11. Claims 14 and 15 recite an output port but do not identify anything from claim 11 that the output port is part of.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claims 9, 14-15, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of a claim upon which they respectively depend. These claims do not specify a further limitation of claims 1 or 11 since they do not refer to anything already recited in claims 1 or 11.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4 and 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liu et al. (article in Optics Express, April 2019, first citation "U" on attached 892 form).
Claim 1: Liu discloses a photonic integrated circuit forming part of a Mach Zehnder interferometer, the photonic integrated circuit comprising (see mainly fig. 1(a), which is reproduced below):
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magnified / rotated crop of fig. 1(a) of Liu et al.
a first waveguide (the upper waveguide) with an optical input at a first port ("Input 1") and comprising a waveguide delay arm (the section of the first waveguide between the first and second couplers, which includes 10 ns delay spiral);
a second waveguide (the lower waveguide);
a first coupler (the right-hand coupler of S1) that optically couples the first waveguide to the second waveguide at a first position; and
a second coupler (the left-hand coupler of S2) that optically couples the first waveguide to the second waveguide at a second position, the second position different from the first position.
Claim 2: Light received to the first port sequentially passes first through the first coupler, second through the waveguide delay arm, and third through the second coupler.
Claim 3 (to the extent understood): The waveguide delay arm is "around" 2 meters long. The physical length of the 10 ns spiral is approximately (c/n)*t ≈ (3x108 m/s / 1.45) * 10x10-9 s ≈ 2.07 m, where n was chosen as 1.45 because Liu states the effective index was 1.450386. The lengths of the waveguide sections leading from the couplers to the spiral are negligible compared to 2.07 m, but in any event the total length of the delay arm is still "around" 2 m as recited.
Claim 4: The waveguide delay arm is positioned between the first coupler and the second coupler along a beamline (between Input 1 and Output 1).
Claim 8: A first output port of the first waveguide and a second output port of the second waveguide are used for laser stabilization. This is regarded as an intended use which does not distinguish claim 8 from the Liu device since Liu discloses all the recited structure (MPEP 2114(II)).
Claim 9 (to the extent understood): A laser optical frequency, of a laser coupled to the photonic integrated circuit, (corresponds to a wavelength) selected from a list consisting of Deep UV, UV, near UV, Visible, Near IR, Mid IR and IR wavelengths ("Laser" in fig. 6 operates at 1550 nm which is an IR wavelength and is commonly considered to be Near-IR as well).
Claims 1-2, 4, and 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 5499308.
Claim 1: '308 discloses a photonic integrated circuit forming part of a Mach Zehnder interferometer, the photonic integrated circuit comprising see mainly figs. 1A-1B:
a first waveguide 2 with an optical input at a first port 12 and comprising a waveguide delay arm 7 (fig. 1A depicts a demultiplexing operation, but in the multiplexing operation, λ2 would be input at port 12);
a second waveguide 3;
a first coupler 6 that optically couples the first waveguide to the second waveguide at a first position; and
a second coupler 5 that optically couples the first waveguide to the second waveguide at a second position, the second position different from the first position.
Claim 2: Light received to the first port sequentially passes first through the first coupler, second through the waveguide delay arm, and third through the second coupler.
Claim 4: The waveguide delay arm 7 is positioned between the first coupler and the second coupler along a beamline (e.g. between port 12 and the left end of waveguide 2).
Claim 7 (to the extent understood): The first coupler has a gap of "around" 2 μm and a length of "around" 1.4 mm. More specifically in the example described at col. 6 lns. 40-48, the gap is 3-4 µm which is "around" 2 µm, and the length is 1.878 mm which is "around" 1.4 mm.
Claim 8: A first output port of the first waveguide and a second output port of the second waveguide are used for laser stabilization. This is regarded as an intended use which does not distinguish claim 8 from the '308 device since '308 discloses all the recited structure (MPEP 2114(II)).
Claim 9 (to the extent understood): A laser optical frequency, of a laser coupled to the photonic integrated circuit, (corresponds to a wavelength) selected from a list consisting of Deep UV, UV, near UV, Visible, Near IR, Mid IR and IR wavelengths (col. 6 first full paragraph indicates the device could be used with a laser operating at 1.3 µm which is an IR wavelength and is commonly considered to be Near-IR as well).
Claims 1-2, 4, 8, 11-12, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 2024/0184180 A1.
Claim 1: '180 discloses a photonic integrated circuit forming part of a Mach Zehnder interferometer, the photonic integrated circuit comprising (see mainly fig. 2):
a first waveguide 208 with an optical input at a first port 216 and comprising a waveguide delay arm 236;
a second waveguide 206;
a first coupler 210 that optically couples the first waveguide to the second waveguide at a first position; and
a second coupler 212 that optically couples the first waveguide to the second waveguide at a second position, the second position different from the first position.
Claim 2: Light received to the first port sequentially passes first through the first coupler 210, second through the waveguide delay arm 236, and third through the second coupler 212.
Claim 4: The waveguide delay arm 236 is positioned between the first coupler and the second coupler along a beamline (e.g. between ports 216 and 220).
Claim 8: A first output port of the first waveguide and a second output port of the second waveguide are used for laser stabilization. This is regarded as an intended use which does not distinguish claim 8 from the '180 device since '180 discloses all the recited structure (MPEP 2114(II)).
Claim 11: '180 discloses a photonic integrated circuit forming part of a Mach Zehnder interferometer, the photonic integrated circuit comprising (see mainly fig. 2):
a resonator 204;
a first waveguide 208 comprising an optical input at a first port and a delay arm 236;
a second waveguide 206, the second waveguide coupled to the resonator 204 at a first position (note coupler 205);
a first coupler 210 that optically couples the first waveguide to the second waveguide at a second position; and
a second coupler 212 that optically couples the first waveguide to the second waveguide at a third position,
wherein the waveguide delay arm is positioned between the first coupler and the second coupler.
Claim 12: Optical properties of the delay arm can be configured by a tuning effect, the tuning effect selected from a list consisting of electro-optic tuning effect, stress-optic tuning effect, current-injection tuning effect, and thermo-optic tuning effect ([0041]).
Claim 17: A first output port of the first waveguide and a second output port of the second waveguide are used for laser stabilization. This is regarded as an intended use which does not distinguish claim 17 from the '180 device since '180 discloses all the recited structure (MPEP 2114(II)).
Claims 1-2, 4-6, 8-12, 14-15, and 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN 106249354 A.
Claim 1: '354 discloses a photonic integrated circuit forming part of a Mach Zehnder interferometer, the photonic integrated circuit comprising (see mainly fig. 2):
a first waveguide (lower waveguide) with an optical input at a first port (where it connects to MMI 2) and comprising a waveguide delay arm (section between MMIs 4 and 6);
a second waveguide (upper waveguide);
a first coupler 2 that optically couples the first waveguide to the second waveguide at a first position; and
a second coupler 6 that optically couples the first waveguide to the second waveguide at a second position, the second position different from the first position.
Claim 2: Light received to the first port sequentially passes first through the first coupler, second through the waveguide delay arm, and third through the second coupler.
Claim 4: The waveguide delay arm is positioned between the first coupler and the second coupler along a beamline.
Claim 5: A first output port of the first waveguide and a second output port of the second waveguide is connected to a photodetector (rightmost block in fig. 1) such that an optical signal can be used for optical frequency discrimination. This is regarded as an intended use which does not distinguish claim 5 from the '354 device since '354 discloses all the recited structure (MPEP 2114(II)).
Claim 6: A first output port of the first waveguide and a second output port of the second waveguide is connected to a detector (rightmost block in fig. 1) such that an optical signal can be used to generate a control input for a laser. This is regarded as an intended use which does not distinguish claim 6 from the '354 device since '354 discloses all the recited structure (MPEP 2114(II)).
Claim 8: A first output port of the first waveguide and a second output port of the second waveguide are used for laser stabilization. This is regarded as an intended use which does not distinguish claim 8 from the '354 device since '354 discloses all the recited structure (MPEP 2114(II)).
Claim 9 (to the extent understood): A laser optical frequency, of a laser coupled to the photonic integrated circuit (leftmost block in fig. 1 is a laser), (corresponds to a wavelength) selected from a list consisting of Deep UV, UV, near UV, Visible, Near IR, Mid IR and IR wavelengths (figs. 5-6 show wavelengths near 1554 nm, which is an IR wavelength and is commonly considered to be Near-IR as well).
Claim 10: The photonic integrated circuit is formed of a material, the material selected from a list consisting of silicon nitride, tantalum pentoxide, aluminum nitride, and aluminum oxide (silicon nitride as described in [0035] of '354 / [0038] of translation).
Claim 11: '354 discloses a photonic integrated circuit forming part of a Mach Zehnder interferometer, the photonic integrated circuit comprising:
a resonator 9;
a first waveguide (lower waveguide) comprising an optical input at a first port (where it connects to MMI 2) and a delay arm (section between MMIs 4 and 6);
a second waveguide (upper waveguide), the second waveguide coupled to the resonator at a first position;
a first coupler 2 that optically couples the first waveguide to the second waveguide at a second position; and
a second coupler 6 that optically couples the first waveguide to the second waveguide at a third position,
wherein the waveguide delay arm is positioned between the first coupler and the second coupler.
Claim 12: Optical properties of the delay arm can be configured by a tuning effect, the tuning effect selected from a list consisting of electro-optic tuning effect, stress-optic tuning effect, current-injection tuning effect, and thermo-optic tuning effect (a thermo-optic tuning effect can be applied by heating electrode 12).
Claim 14 (to the extent understood): An output from an output port (of the MR-MZI of fig. 2) is connected to a photodetector (rightmost block of fig. 1) such that an optical signal can be used for optical frequency discrimination. This is regarded as an intended use which does not distinguish claim 14 from the '354 device since '354 discloses all the recited structure (MPEP 2114(II)).
Claim 15 (to the extent understood): An output from an output port (of the MR-MZI of fig. 2) is connected to a detector (rightmost block of fig. 1) such that an optical signal can be used to generate a control input for a feedback loop to lock a laser. This is regarded as an intended use which does not distinguish claim 15 from the '354 device since '354 discloses all the recited structure (MPEP 2114(II)).
Claim 17: A first output port of the first waveguide and a second output port of the second waveguide are used for laser stabilization. This is regarded as an intended use which does not distinguish claim 17 from the '354 device since '354 discloses all the recited structure (MPEP 2114(II)).
Claim 18 (to the extent understood): A laser optical frequency, of a laser coupled to the photonic integrated circuit, (corresponds to a wavelength) selected from a list consisting of Deep UV, UV, near UV, Visible, Near IR, Mid IR and IR wavelengths (figs. 5-6 show wavelengths near 1554 nm, which is an IR wavelength and is commonly considered to be Near-IR as well).
Claim 19: The photonic integrated circuit of claim 11, wherein the photonic integrated circuit is formed of a material, the material selected from a list consisting of silicon nitride, tantalum pentoxide, aluminum nitride, and aluminum oxide (see above with regard to claim 10).
Claims 1-2, 4-8, 11-12, and 14-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP 2014-182259 A.
Claim 1: '259 discloses a photonic integrated circuit forming part of a Mach Zehnder interferometer, the photonic integrated circuit comprising (see mainly fig. 7; subscripts will be replaced with hyphens):
a first waveguide (upper waveguide of 20-1) with an optical input at a first port and comprising a waveguide delay arm 22-1;
a second waveguide (lower waveguide of 20-1);
a first coupler 23-1 that optically couples the first waveguide to the second waveguide at a first position; and
a second coupler 24-1 that optically couples the first waveguide to the second waveguide at a second position, the second position different from the first position.
Claim 2: Light received to the first port sequentially passes first through the first coupler, second through the waveguide delay arm, and third through the second coupler.
Claim 4: The waveguide delay arm is positioned between the first coupler and the second coupler along a beamline.
Claim 5: A first output port of the first waveguide and a second output port of the second waveguide is connected to a photodetector 40-1 - 40-4 such that an optical signal can be used for optical frequency discrimination. This is regarded as an intended use which does not distinguish claim 5 from the '259 device since '259 discloses all the recited structure (MPEP 2114(II)).
Claim 6: A first output port of the first waveguide and a second output port of the second waveguide is connected to a detector 40-1 - 40-4 such that an optical signal can be used to generate a control input for a laser. This is regarded as an intended use which does not distinguish claim 6 from the '259 device since '259 discloses all the recited structure (MPEP 2114(II)).
Claim 7 (to the extent understood): The first coupler 23-1 has a gap of "around" 2 μm and a length of "around" 1.4 mm, since "around" covers all possible values for the gap and the length.
Claim 8: The photonic integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein a first output port of the first waveguide and a second output port of the second waveguide are used for laser stabilization. This is regarded as an intended use which does not distinguish claim 8 from the '259 device since '259 discloses all the recited structure (MPEP 2114(II)).
Claim 11: '259 discloses a photonic integrated circuit forming part of a Mach Zehnder interferometer, the photonic integrated circuit comprising (see mainly fig. 7):
a resonator 26;
a first waveguide (upper waveguide of 20-1) comprising an optical input at a first port and a delay arm 22-1;
a second waveguide (lower waveguide of 20-1), the second waveguide coupled to the resonator at a first position;
a first coupler 23-1 that optically couples the first waveguide to the second waveguide at a second position; and
a second coupler 24-1 that optically couples the first waveguide to the second waveguide at a third position,
wherein the waveguide delay arm 22-1 is positioned between the first coupler and the second coupler.
Claim 12: Optical properties of the delay arm can be configured by a tuning effect, the tuning effect selected from a list consisting of electro-optic tuning effect, stress-optic tuning effect, current-injection tuning effect, and thermo-optic tuning effect (at least a thermo-optic tuning effect, since the waveguide cores of '259 are made of silicon, [0038], [0043]-[0044]).
Claim 14 (to the extent understood): An output from an output port is connected to a photodetector 40-n such that an optical signal can be used for optical frequency discrimination. This is regarded as an intended use which does not distinguish claim 14 from the '259 device since '259 discloses all the recited structure (MPEP 2114(II)).
Claim 15 (to the extent understood): An output from an output port is connected to a detector 40-n such that an optical signal can be used to generate a control input for a feedback loop to lock a laser. This is regarded as an intended use which does not distinguish claim 15 from the '259 device since '259 discloses all the recited structure (MPEP 2114(II)).
Claim 16 (to the extent understood): The first coupler 23-1 has a gap of "around" 2 μm and a length of "around" 1.4 mm, since "around" covers all possible values for the gap and the length.
Claim 17: A first output port of the first waveguide and a second output port of the second waveguide are used for laser stabilization. This is regarded as an intended use which does not distinguish claim 17 from the '259 device since '259 discloses all the recited structure (MPEP 2114(II)).
Claims 1-2, 4-6, and 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP 8-5834 A.
Claim 1: '834 discloses a photonic integrated circuit forming part of a Mach Zehnder interferometer, the photonic integrated circuit comprising (see mainly figs. 8 and 1):
a first waveguide 2 with an optical input at a first port and comprising a waveguide delay arm (section having length L+dL);
a second waveguide 1;
a first coupler 4 that optically couples the first waveguide to the second waveguide at a first position; and
a second coupler 5 that optically couples the first waveguide to the second waveguide at a second position, the second position different from the first position.
Claim 2: Light received to the first port sequentially passes first through the first coupler, second through the waveguide delay arm, and third through the second coupler.
Claim 4: The waveguide delay arm is positioned between the first coupler and the second coupler along a beamline.
Claim 5: A first output port of the first waveguide and a second output port of the second waveguide is connected to a photodetector 43 such that an optical signal can be used for optical frequency discrimination. Although this is considered to be an intended use, '834 nevertheless discloses optical frequency discrimination for example in [0057], [0059], and [0061].
Claim 6: A first output port of the first waveguide and a second output port of the second waveguide is connected to a detector 43 such that an optical signal can be used to generate a control input for a laser. Although this is considered to be an intended use, '834 nevertheless discloses such a use by way of elements 43 / 44 / 45.
Claim 8: A first output port of the first waveguide and a second output port of the second waveguide are used for laser stabilization. Although this is considered to be an intended use, '834 nevertheless discloses such stabilization in the overall description of fig. 8.
Claim 9 (to the extent understood): A laser optical frequency (particularly, of a laser 42) (corresponds to a wavelength) selected from a list consisting of Deep UV, UV, near UV, Visible, Near IR, Mid IR and IR wavelengths ([0060] refers to an output wavelength of 1.55 µm, which is an IR wavelength and is commonly considered to be Near-IR as well).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 13 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of base claim 11 and if the rewriting avoids the informality objection above.
Claim 20 is allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Claims 13 and 20 require a coil resonator in combination with various other elements. The applied references which mention a resonator do not disclose or suggest that it is a coil resonator and there is no apparent motivation to replace the types of resonators disclosed in those references (generally ring resonators) with a coil resonator.
Conclusion
The additional references listed on the attached 892 form are considered generally relevant to the subject matter of this application. Several of them disclose other examples of photonic integrated circuits having some of the recited parts.
Contact Information
Examiner: 571-272-2360
Examiner's direct supervisor: 571-272-2397
Official correspondence by fax: 571-273-8300
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/Michael Stahl/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874