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 .
Inventorship
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Species A in the reply filed on June 18, 2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that the species are not mutually exclusive because the embodiment includes a passive catch-up section, and another includes splitting and recombining of optical signals are “additional implementation details layered onto the same common EO phase-modulator structure.” This is not found persuasive because the embodiments in Species A-C all have distinct features that are mutually exclusive from the other embodiments. The embodiment of Species B requires lightguide in EO region 406 to form a “step function” and further requires additional metamaterial formed around the “step function” lightguide. This feature is not required for the operation of embodiment in Species A (Figs. 1-3) and Species C (Fig. 5). The modulator in the embodiment of Species C (Fig. 5) requires a splitter at the input end, a combiner at the output end, and two sets of phase modulators. This configuration is distinct from Species A and B wherein species A and B can operate without the splitter, combiner, and two sets of modulator.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Information Disclosure Statement
The prior art documents submitted by applicant in the Information Disclosure Statements filed on February 12, 2024 and July 23, 2024 have all been considered and made of record (note the attached copy(ies) of form PTO-1449).
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because Fig. 5 appears to have mislabeled ‘506’. The reference number should be ‘516’ for pointing to the “openings in the high dielectric constant material 514”. Reference number ‘506’ appears to be missing in Fig. 5 on the right side to mirror 506’ labeled “EO region”. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: 514, 514’, 516’. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wessels et al. (US 10,310,181 B2, herein “Wessels”).
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Regarding claim 1, Wessels discloses an electrooptic (EO) phase modulator (Fig. 1A), comprising:
a first photonic bandgap (PBG) metamaterial region (left of nitride ridge waveguide, photonic crystal [PC] region) suppressing propagation of light having a wavelength of interest;
a second PBG metamaterial region (right of nitride ridge waveguide PC region) suppressing propagation of light having the same wavelength of interest;
an EO region (Si3N4 ridge waveguide) disposed between the first and second PBG metamaterial regions and adapted to guide light having the wavelength of interest;
a first electrode contacting the first PBG metamaterial region; and a second electrode contacting the second PBG metamaterial region (Col. 2, lines 56-63).
The examiner notes the phase modulator in applicant’s invention is structurally the same as Wessels (Fig. 1A). Applicant’s PBG metamaterial is the same (the PBG metamaterial regions 108, 110 is Barium Titanate BaTiO3, (Pg-pub 2024/0353698, Para [0025]), see Fig. 1 in Wessels disclosure and Col. 8, lines 45-58. The electric field across the first and second PBG metamaterial regions and EO region is by-product of the phase modulator under the influence of the electrodes. Wessels discloses the same material of the first and second PBG, EO region, and electrodes, thus, Wessel’s phase modulator is capable of producing “a magnitude of an electric field across the first and second PBG metamaterial regions is small compared to a magnitude of the electric field across the EO region” (MPEP § 2114 (II)). Furthermore, the functional language does not impart any structural differences from the phase modulator of Wessels. The examiner considers Wessels anticipates all limitations of claim 1.
Claim 2. Wessels discloses the invention of claim 1 and further discloses the first and second PBG metamaterial regions comprise regions having a comparatively high relative (solid portions of Barium Titanate) dielectric constant (εr) and regions having a comparatively low εr (holes in the Barium Titanate layer), wherein the regions having a comparatively low εr, and the regions of comparatively high and comparatively low εr substantially suppress propagation of light having the wavelength of interest (the function of photonic crystal as light travel through alternating high refractive and low refractive regions, the distance of the alternating high refractive and low refractive regions is the lattice constant, Col. 9, line 64 to Col. 10, line 11).
Claim 3. Wessels discloses the invention of claim 2 and disclosing the same structure and material, thus, Wessels’ phase modulator would have the same manner of operation with respect to the voltage drop at a modulation frequency across the first and second PBG metamaterial regions is in the range of approximately 5% to less than approximately 50% of the voltage applied between the first and second electrodes (MPEP § 2114 (II)).
Claims 4-5. Wessels discloses the invention of claim 2 and disclosing the same structure and material, thus, Wessels’ phase modulator would have the same dielectric constant property as the claimed invention (MPEP§2112.01 (I)).
Claim 6. Wessels discloses the invention of claim 1 and the same structure and same material of Wessels’ phase modulator would have the same manner of operation with respect to the metamaterial regions span a wavelength having an absolute frequency difference less than a highest modulation frequency of interest (MPEP § 2114 (II)).
Claim 7-10. Wessels discloses the invention of claim 1 and further discloses openings (holes, Col. 2, lines 42-55) in the first and second PBG metamaterials regions (Barium Titanate). The openings form a honeycomb structure (hexagonal array of holes in the electro-optic medium, Col. 4, lines 42-63) and the openings comprise the EO material (Fig. 1A). Since Wessels does not disclose the openings are filled with any material, the examiner considers the openings are filled with air.
Claim 11. Wessels discloses the invention of claim 7, and further discloses a wavelength of a modulating signal between the first and second electrodes is greater than a width of the opening so that the modulating signal is not substantially affected by the openings (propagation of wavelength of interest is not suppressed - the function of photonic crystal as light travel through alternating high refractive and low refractive regions, the distance of the alternating high refractive and low refractive regions is the lattice constant, Col. 9, line 64 to Col. 10, line 11).
Claim 12. Wessels discloses the invention of claim 1 and further discloses the first and second electrodes each contact the high dielectric constant material (BaTiO3, Barium Titanate) and are separated from the EO layer by a distance sufficient so an optical mode propagating in the high dielectric constant material does not overlap the first and second electrodes (incorporated by reference US Patent 7,224,878, Col. 10, lines 15-42, Fig. 10). US Patent 7,224,878 granted to Wessels teaches the electrode gap G is 5 micron and the length of the modulator is 5 mm for achieving the desired effective electro-optic coefficient (Eq. (1)) for the purpose of minimize optical mode absorption losses due to the metal electrodes interaction with the optical mode (US Patent 7,224,878: Col. 6, lines 23-46, Col. 6, line 65 to Col. 7, line 20).
Claim 13. Wessels discloses the invention of claim 1 and further discloses the same structure and material as the claimed electrooptic phase modulator. Thus, Wessels’ phase modulator would have the same property of “an effective dielectric constant at a modulation frequency of the first and second PBG layers is significantly greater than a dielectric constant of the EO material” as recited in claim 13 (MPEP§2112.01 (I)).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. PTO-892:C-E.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Erin D Chiem whose telephone number is (571)272-3102. The examiner can normally be reached 10 am - 6 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas A. Hollweg can be reached at (571) 270-1739. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ERIN D CHIEM/Examiner, Art Unit 2874
/THOMAS A HOLLWEG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2874
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