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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 1 September 2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed 1 September 2026 has been entered. Claims 1-20 remain pending in the application. Applicant’s amendments to Claims 10 and 20 have overcome each and every U.S.C. 112 rejection previously set forth in the Final Office Action mailed on 3 June 2026. However, Applicant’s amendments to Claims 1, 3, 4, 11, 13 and 14 do not overcome the U.S.C. 103 rejections.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 1 September 2026, with respect to the U.S.C. 103 rejections of claims 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection has newly cited references teaching the amended claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 of this title, 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.
Claims 1, 6, 9, 11, 16 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Roh et al. (US20210127101A1), hereinafter Roh, in view of Guillon et al. (US11609124B2), hereinafter Guillon.
Independent claims
As to claim 1, Roh teaches a hyperspectral image sensor (claim 1; [0047]; fig. 1; hyperspectral image sensor 110) comprising:
a light-receiving sensor that is pixelated ([0047]; [0048]; fig. 1; The hyperspectral image sensor 110 may include a solid-state imaging device 111. The solid-state imaging device 111 may be a general image sensor including a plurality of pixels arranged in two dimensions to sense light);
and a plurality of metasurfaces in front of the light-receiving sensor and apart from each other in a stacking direction, each of the plurality of metasurfaces having an array of meta-atoms ([0047]; fig. 1; The hyperspectral image sensor 110 may include a dispersion optical device 113, which is in front of the solid-state imaging device 111. [0050]; fig, 2A; The dispersion optical device 113 may include various forms of meta surfaces, for example in a stacking direction in fig. 2A. The meta surfaces are apart from each other in a stacking direction because they are distinct entities from each other).
However, Roh does not explicitly disclose wherein at least one of the plurality of metasurfaces is a random metasurface in which meta-atoms are arranged to impose, on incident light, phase delays that vary irregularly according to positions across the random metasurface, such that the random metasurface diffracts the incident light into a plurality of mutually different propagation directions, and wherein light diffracted by the plurality of metasurfaces mutually interferes to form a speckle pattern on a sensing surface of the light-receiving sensor.
Guillon, in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention, teaches wherein at least one of the plurality of metasurfaces is a random metasurface in which meta-atoms are arranged to impose, on incident light, phase delays that vary irregularly according to positions across the random metasurface, such that the random metasurface diffracts the incident light into a plurality of mutually different propagation directions (Guillon col. 4 ln. 39-44; “The term “diffuser” should be understood as any element that scatters light, that is to say any material that is able to diffuse specular light, i.e. light with a primary direction, to a diffuse light, i.e. light with random or pseudo-random light direction and phase delays” (emphasis added). Col. 26 ln. 10-12; “The optical mask comprises for example a plurality of diffusers or pseudo-diffusers, or a combination thereof, preferably diffusers or pseudo-diffusers”. Thus, the optical mask is a random metasurface in which meta-atoms are arranged to impose phase delays varying irregularly, such that the optical mask diffracts the incident light into a plurality of mutually different propagation directions),
and wherein light diffracted by the plurality of metasurfaces mutually interferes to form a speckle pattern (Guillon col. 34 ln. 54-58; “An optical mask may be… a diffuser generating propagation direction-dependent random intensity patterns, speckles”. Col. 4 ln. 30-34; “The term “signal intensity pattern” refers to a distribution of signal intensity wherein different regions of the pattern have different amounts or degrees of signal intensity. The signal intensity pattern may be a speckle pattern, characterized by a randomly distributed point-like intensity structure”) on a sensing surface of the light-receiving sensor (Guillon claim 1; The device “comprising an optical assembly made at least of an optical mask and an imaging sensor for generating and recording intensity patterns of incident beams, by having these beams reflect on, or propagate through, the optical mask”. Fig. 8; col. 26 ln. 45-50; “An illustration of the zero-mean cross-correlation product of the speckle of FIG. 8 with itself (also called auto-correlation product) is shown in FIG. 8. The result displayed in FIG. 8 exhibits an intense central bright spot demonstrating the high degree of correlation of an intensity pattern with itself”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Roh to incorporate the teachings of Guillon to include wherein at least one of the plurality of metasurfaces is a random metasurface in which meta-atoms are arranged to impose, on incident light, phase delays that vary irregularly according to positions across the random metasurface, such that the random metasurface diffracts the incident light into a plurality of mutually different propagation directions, and wherein light diffracted by the plurality of metasurfaces mutually interferes to form a speckle pattern on a sensing surface of the light-receiving sensor; for the advantage of enhanced measurement techniques for multi-angular signal light (Guillon co. 2 ln. 42-54).
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As to claim 11, Roh teaches a hyperspectral imaging system (title; Hyperspectral image sensor and hyperspectral image pickup apparatus) comprising:
a hyperspectral image sensor (claim 1; [0047]; fig. 1; hyperspectral image sensor 110) comprising:
a light-receiving sensor that is pixelated ([0047]; [0048]; fig. 1; The hyperspectral image sensor 110 may include a solid-state imaging device 111. The solid-state imaging device 111 may be a general image sensor including a plurality of pixels arranged in two dimensions to sense light);
and a plurality of metasurfaces in front of the light-receiving sensor and apart from each other in a stacking direction, each of the plurality of metasurfaces having an array of meta-atoms ([0047]; fig. 1; The hyperspectral image sensor 110 may include a dispersion optical device 113, which is in front of the solid-state imaging device 111. [0050]; fig, 2A; The dispersion optical device 113 may include various forms of meta surfaces, for example in a stacking direction in fig. 2A. The meta surfaces are apart from each other in a stacking direction because they are distinct entities from each other),
and wherein the plurality of metasurfaces is configured to form a speckle pattern on a sensing surface of the light-receiving sensor ([0050]; The dispersion optical device 113 may include a grating having an asymmetric pattern or an aperiodic pattern and include various forms of meta surfaces. Speckle patterns are aperiodic, thus, a speckle pattern may be formed);
a storage device ([0087]; The second operation unit 40 may include an input unit 41 that receives data from the first operation unit 30, an encoder 42 that generates a feature map based on the input data, a decoder 43 that restores the feature of data based on the feature map, and an output unit 44 that outputs restored data);
and at least one processor configured to generate a hyperspectral image using the speckle pattern received by the light-receiving sensor (claim 7; an image processor configured to process image data provided from the solid-state imaging device to extract hyperspectral images for the plurality of wavelengths).
However, Roh does not explicitly disclose wherein at least one of the plurality of metasurfaces is a random metasurface in which meta-atoms are arranged to impose, on incident light, phase delays that vary irregularly according to positions across the random metasurface, such that the random metasurface diffracts the incident light into a plurality of mutually different propagation directions; the storage device configured to store a random phase map information of the random metasurface, wherein the random phase map information represents the phase delays according to the positions; and at least one processor configured to generate a hyperspectral image using the speckle pattern received by the light-receiving sensor and the random phase map information.
Guillon, in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention, teaches wherein at least one of the plurality of metasurfaces is a random metasurface in which meta-atoms are arranged to impose, on incident light, phase delays that vary irregularly according to positions across the random metasurface, such that the random metasurface diffracts the incident light into a plurality of mutually different propagation directions (Guillon col. 4 ln. 39-44; “The term “diffuser” should be understood as any element that scatters light, that is to say any material that is able to diffuse specular light, i.e. light with a primary direction, to a diffuse light, i.e. light with random or pseudo-random light direction and phase delays” (emphasis added). Col. 26 ln. 10-12; “The optical mask comprises for example a plurality of diffusers or pseudo-diffusers, or a combination thereof, preferably diffusers or pseudo-diffusers”. Thus, the optical mask is a random metasurface in which meta-atoms are arranged to impose phase delays varying irregularly, such that the optical mask diffracts the incident light into a plurality of mutually different propagation directions);
the storage device configured to store a random phase map information of the random metasurface (Guillon col. 24 ln. 57-65; “The optical device 15 further comprises a wavefront sensor 10. The latter includes a device 16 comprising an optical mask 14 and an imaging sensor 18 for generating and recording intensity patterns of incident beams. For calculation purposes, computing means are also provided. The computing means may comprise a memory storing, a set of instructions and processor for executing said set of instructions, such as a PC computer or dedicated microcontroller bound”), wherein the random phase map information represents the phase delays according to the positions (Guillon col. 4 ln. 39-44; “The term “diffuser” should be understood as any element that scatters light, that is to say any material that is able to diffuse specular light, i.e. light with a primary direction, to a diffuse light, i.e. light with random or pseudo-random light direction and phase delays” (emphasis added). Col. 26 ln. 10-12; “The optical mask comprises for example a plurality of diffusers or pseudo-diffusers, or a combination thereof, preferably diffusers or pseudo-diffusers”. Thus, the random phase map information representing phase delays according to positions can be stored within the memory storing of the optical device 15);
and at least one processor configured to generate a hyperspectral image using the speckle pattern received by the light-receiving sensor and the random phase map information (Guillon col. 24 ln. 57-65; “The optical device 15 further comprises a wavefront sensor 10. The latter includes a device 16 comprising an optical mask 14 and an imaging sensor 18 for generating and recording intensity patterns of incident beams. For calculation purposes, computing means are also provided. The computing means may comprise a memory storing, a set of instructions and processor for executing said set of instructions, such as a PC computer or dedicated microcontroller bound”. Fig. 8; col. 26 ln. 45-50; “An illustration of the zero-mean cross-correlation product of the speckle of FIG. 8 with itself (also called auto-correlation product) is shown in FIG. 8. The result displayed in FIG. 8 exhibits an intense central bright spot demonstrating the high degree of correlation of an intensity pattern with itself”. Thus, a hyperspectral image is generated using the speckle pattern received by the light-receiving sensor and the random phase map information).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Roh to incorporate the teachings of Guillon to include wherein at least one of the plurality of metasurfaces is a random metasurface in which meta-atoms are arranged to impose, on incident light, phase delays that vary irregularly according to positions across the random metasurface, such that the random metasurface diffracts the incident light into a plurality of mutually different propagation directions; the storage device configured to store a random phase map information of the random metasurface, wherein the random phase map information represents the phase delays according to the positions; and at least one processor configured to generate a hyperspectral image using the speckle pattern received by the light-receiving sensor and the random phase map information; for the advantage of simultaneously measuring wavefront shapes at different propagation directions using a single image acquisition from a same multi-angular light beam (Guillon col. 4 ln. 11-18).
As to claims 6 and 16, Roh teaches wherein a distance between metasurfaces of the plurality of metasurfaces is determined (fig. 2A; [0050]; The distance between the metasurfaces is determined by Roh as the spacing between each meta surface of the dispersion optical device).
However, Roh does not explicitly disclose wherein at least one of a number of the plurality of metasurfaces such that sizes of at least some of speckles of the speckle pattern are greater than a pixel size of the light-receiving sensor.
Guillon, in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention, teaches wherein at least one of a number of the plurality of metasurfaces such that sizes of at least some of speckles of the speckle pattern are greater than a pixel size of the light-receiving sensor (Guillon fig. 8; col. 26 ln. 45-50; “An illustration of the zero-mean cross-correlation product of the speckle of FIG. 8 with itself (also called auto-correlation product) is shown in FIG. 8. The result displayed in FIG. 8 exhibits an intense central bright spot demonstrating the high degree of correlation of an intensity pattern with itself”. In fig. 8, there are at least some speckles greater than the pixel size displayed).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Roh to incorporate the teachings of Guillon to include wherein at least one of a number of the plurality of metasurfaces such that sizes of at least some of speckles of the speckle pattern are greater than a pixel size of the light-receiving sensor; for the advantage of better validity of the orthogonality approximation in an intensity pattern (Guillon col. 34 ln. 62-67).
As to claims 9 and 19, Roh teaches wherein the plurality of metasurfaces comprise two to ten metasurfaces apart from each other ([0050]; fig, 2A; The dispersion optical device 113 may include various forms of meta surfaces, for example in a stacking direction in fig. 2A. Thus, there are between two to ten metasurfaces that are apart from each other).
Dependent claims
Claims 2 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Roh in view of Guillon, further in view of Zhang et al. (US20220336509A1), hereinafter Zhang.
As to claims 2 and 12, Roh does not explicitly disclose wherein, in the random metasurface, the meta-atoms are arranged in a disordered size distribution to exhibit random phase map information for incident plane wave, and a random phase map is defined as phase delay values according to coordinates in a spatial domain.
Guillon, in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention, teaches wherein, in the random metasurface, the meta-atoms are arranged in a disordered size distribution to exhibit random phase map information for incident plane wave, and a random phase map is defined as phase delay values according to coordinates in a spatial domain (Guillon col. 34 ln. 54-58; “An optical mask may be… a diffuser generating propagation direction-dependent random intensity patterns, speckles”. Thus, the optical mask meta-atoms are inherently arranged in a disordered size distribution, which causes the diffused light creating a speckle pattern, i.e. spatial disorder in the spatial domain. Fig. 7A-7B; Fig 7A-7B represent the phase distributions, i.e. the phase map, which are random because the optical mask is a random metasurface. Thus, the random phase map comprises phase delay values according to coordinates in a spatial domain).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Roh to incorporate the teachings of Guillon to include wherein, in the random metasurface, the meta-atoms are arranged in a disordered size distribution to exhibit random phase map information for incident plane wave, and a random phase map is defined as phase delay values according to coordinates in a spatial domain; for the advantage of enhanced measurement techniques for multi-angular signal light (Guillon co. 2 ln. 42-54).
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Claims 3 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Roh in view of Guillon and Zhang, further in view of Jang et al. (US20190113775A1), hereinafter Jang.
As to claims 3 and 13, Roh in view of Guillon and Zhang does not explicitly disclose wherein a spatial- frequency component of the random phase map of the random metasurface is confined within a predetermined numerical aperture such that a degree of disorder of the random metasurface is limited.
Jang, in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention, teaches wherein a spatial- frequency component of the random phase map of the random metasurface is confined within a predetermined numerical aperture such that a degree of disorder of the random metasurface is limited (Jang [0021]; fig. 1; “FIG. 1 illustrates an example of complex wavefront engineering through a random metasurface phase mask (105) backed with a phase-only spatial light modulator (SLM, 110). Panel a illustrates a schematic of an optical focusing system using a random metasurface backed with an SLM. Panel b illustrates a scanning electron microscope (SEM) image of the fabricated random metasurface phase mask, composed of randomly arranged silicon nitride nanoposts on a fused silica substrate. Panel c illustrates an experimental realization of high numerical aperture (NA) light focusing through the metasurface (NA=0.95)”. [0032]; “One of the unique and most useful aspects of wavefront shaping with disordered media is that it allows access to a broader optical space in both spatial extent and spatial frequency content than the input optical field can conventionally access. For example, when an SLM is used alone, the generated optical field Ei contains a limited range of spatial frequencies due to the large pixel pitch of the SLM (νx or νy≤1/(2dSLM) where νx and νy are spatial frequency contents along the transverse axes of the SLM and dSLM is the pixel pitch; typically ˜10 μm). As a consequence, the number of addressable spots M is identical to the number of controllable degrees of freedom N. In contrast, when a disordered medium is placed in the optical path, its strongly scattering nature generates an output field Eo with much higher spatial frequencies… According to the space-bandwidth product formalism, this means that the number of addressable focal spots M within a given modulation area S is maximally improved” (emphasis added). Therefore, a spatial- frequency component of the random phase map of the random metasurface is confined within a predetermined numerical aperture NA such that a degree of disorder of the random metasurface can be limited).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Roh in view of Guillon and Zhang to incorporate the teachings of Jang to include wherein a spatial- frequency component of the random phase map of the random metasurface is confined within a predetermined numerical aperture such that a degree of disorder of the random metasurface is limited; for the advantage of improving the number of addressable focal spots (Jang [0032]).
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Claims 4 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Roh in view of Guillon, Zhang, and further in view of Wang et al. (US20080088524A1), hereinafter Wang.
As to claims 4 and 14, Roh in view of Guillon does not explicitly disclose wherein the meta-atoms of the random metasurface have identical heights and irregular sizes.
Zhang, in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention, teaches wherein the meta-atoms of the random metasurface have identical heights (Zhang fig. 15; [0115]; “The metasurface includes a plurality of subunits, and each subunit includes an array including a plurality of columnar structures” having identical heights. [0125]; “Specifically, for example, a height of the columnar structure on the metasurface 701 may be 500 nm”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Roh in view of Guillon to incorporate the teachings of Zhang to include wherein the meta-atoms of the random metasurface have identical heights; for the advantage of enhanced random generation of a metasurface array structure (Zhang [0148]).
Still lacking the limitation such as wherein the meta-atoms of the random metasurface have irregular sizes.
Wang, in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention, teaches wherein the meta-atoms of the random metasurface have irregular sizes (Wang [0026]; fig. 4C; The at least one geometric feature that is chirped is spatially varied in a manner that is spatially regular (i.e. regularly positioned), but discontinuous, having irregular sizes. The heights are also inherently the same because the embodiment does not describe them as different).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Roh in view of Guillon and Zhang to incorporate the teachings of Wang to include wherein the meta-atoms of the random metasurface have irregular sizes, for the advantage of design versatility with a wide variety of metasurface options (Wang [0027]).
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Claims 5 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Roh in view of Guillon, further in view of Wang.
As to claims 5 and 15, Roh in view of Guillon does not explicitly disclose wherein the meta-atoms of the random metasurface are regularly positioned and have irregular sizes.
Wang, in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention, teaches wherein the meta-atoms of the random metasurface are regularly positioned and have irregular sizes (Wang [0026]; fig. 4C; The at least one geometric feature that is chirped is spatially varied in a manner that is spatially regular (i.e. regularly positioned), but discontinuous, having irregular sizes).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Roh in view of Guillon to incorporate the teachings of Wang to include wherein the meta-atoms of the random metasurface are regularly positioned and have irregular sizes, for the advantage of design versatility with a wide variety of metasurface options (Wang [0027]).
Claims 7, 8, 10, 17, 18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Roh in view of Guillon, further in view of Sie et al. (US 20210338083 A1), hereinafter Sie.
As to claims 7 and 17, Roh in view of Guillon does not explicitly disclose wherein a degree of disorder of the plurality of metasurfaces is limited such that an average speckle size of the speckle pattern is greater than the pixel size of the light-receiving sensor.
Sie, in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention, teaches wherein a degree of disorder of the plurality of metasurfaces is limited such that an average speckle size of the speckle pattern is greater than the pixel size of the light-receiving sensor (Sie [0040]; [0047]; fig. 4; By adjusting the distance between the detector end 420, i.e. the light-receiving sensor, and the detector array 412, the projected speckle diameter may be tuned (d=8, 4 or 2 pixels). Thus, the average speckle size can be greater than the pixel size of the light-receiving sensor).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Roh in view of Guillon to incorporate the teachings of Sie to include wherein a degree of disorder of the plurality of metasurfaces is limited such that an average speckle size of the speckle pattern is greater than the pixel size of the light-receiving sensor; for the advantage of increased adjustability to optimize the signal-to-noise ratio (Sie [0027]).
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As to claims 8 and 18, Roh in view of Guillon does not explicitly disclose wherein a degree of disorder of the plurality of metasurfaces is limited such that an average speckle size of the speckle pattern is greater than twice the pixel size of the light-receiving sensor.
Sie, in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention, teaches wherein a degree of disorder of the plurality of metasurfaces is limited such that an average speckle size of the speckle pattern is greater than twice the pixel size of the light-receiving sensor (Sie [0040]; [0047]; fig. 4; By adjusting the distance between the detector end 420, i.e. the light-receiving sensor, and the detector array 412, the projected speckle diameter may be tuned (d=8, 4 or 2 pixels). Thus, the average speckle size can be greater than twice the pixel size of the light-receiving sensor).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Roh in view of Guillon to incorporate the teachings of Sie to include wherein a degree of disorder of the plurality of metasurfaces is limited such that an average speckle size of the speckle pattern is greater than twice the pixel size of the light-receiving sensor; for the advantage of increased adjustability to optimize the signal-to-noise ratio (Sie [0027]).
As to claims 10 and 20, Roh in view of Guillon does not explicitly disclose wherein a distance from the plurality of metasurfaces to the sensing surface of the light-receiving sensor is from 1 μm to 10 cm.
Sie, in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention, teaches wherein a distance from the plurality of metasurfaces to the sensing surface of the light-receiving sensor is from 1 μm to 10 cm (Sie fig. 4; [0040]; The fiber-SPAD distance z, which can be adjusted by the distance adjusted 426, can be adjusted to 59 mm or 30 mm. [0059]; the fiber-SPAD distance can also be 8.1 mm, for example. Thus, the distance between the detector end 420, i.e. the light-receiving sensor, and the detector array 412, i.e. the plurality of metasurfaces, can be between 1 μm to 10 cm).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Roh in view of Guillon to incorporate the teachings of Sie to include wherein a distance from the plurality of metasurfaces to the sensing surface of the light-receiving sensor is from 1 μm to 10 cm; for the advantage of increased adjustability to optimize the signal-to-noise ratio (Sie [0027]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Kemaya Nguyen whose telephone number is (571)272-9078. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 11 am – 8 pm ET.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tarifur Chowdhury can be reached on (571) 272-2287. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-270-4211.
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/KEMAYA NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 2877
/TARIFUR R CHOWDHURY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2877
