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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 5 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention.
Claims 5 and 14 describe a PAF with a core diameter of 30 millimeters (mm) or larger. However, according to the state of the prior art, the specification fails to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention without undue experimentation, due to the extremely large diameter of the core. For example, Galvanauskas [2007: Galvanauskas “High Peak Power Pulse Amplification in Large-Core Yb-Doped Fiber Amplifiers”] teaches using large core Yb-Doped fiber amplifiers, the largest core diameter presented by Galvanauskas is 200 micrometers [Pag 2, Sect II, Par 1], Meng also shows that the state of the art has continued to use large core diameters within this range [2017: Meng et al. “Scaling of Yb-doped photonic crystal fiber to 200 µm core diameter for high beam quality laser output”; Pag 2, abstract]. In contrast the applicant suggests using a PAF with a core diameter of 30 mm or larger, however, no directions or working examples are provided in the disclosure. In Par 0064 the applicant talks about core diameters ranging from 36 micrometers to 45 micrometers. Additionally, a core diameter of 25 mm is used as a reference in fig 4, while talking about core diameters in the micrometer range. Perhaps the applicant meant to use a 25-micrometer reference? Nevertheless, there is no mention of a PAF with a core diameter of 30 mm or larger. It is unclear how one of ordinary skill in the art would know how to implement this device without knowing how to produce a PAF with a core diameter that is greater than or equal to 30 mm. Therefore, claims 5 and 14 fail to satisfy the enablement requirement.
Claims 5 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claims 5 and 14 describe a PAF with a core diameter of 30 millimeters (mm) or larger. However, according to the state of the prior art, the specification fails to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention without undue experimentation, due to the extremely large diameter of the core. For example, Galvanauskas [2007: Galvanauskas “High Peak Power Pulse Amplification in Large-Core Yb-Doped Fiber Amplifiers”] teaches using large core Yb-Doped fiber amplifiers, the largest core diameter presented by Galvanauskas is 200 micrometers [Pag 2, Sect II, Par 1], Meng also shows that the state of the art has continued to use large core diameters within this range [2017: Meng et al. “Scaling of Yb-doped photonic crystal fiber to 200 µm core diameter for high beam quality laser output”; Pag 2, abstract]. In contrast the applicant suggests using a PAF with a core diameter of 30 mm or larger, however, no directions or working examples are provided in the disclosure. In Par 0064 the applicant talks about core diameters ranging from 36 micrometers to 45 micrometers. Additionally, a core diameter of 25 mm is used as a reference in fig 4, while talking about core diameters in the micrometer range. Perhaps the applicant meant to use a 25-micrometer reference? Nevertheless, there is no mention of a PAF with a core diameter of 30 mm or larger. It is not clear that the inventor had possession of a PAF with a core diameter of 30 mm or larger. Therefore, claims 5 and 14 fail to satisfy the written description requirement.
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, 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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6-8, 12, 13, 15, 16 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shah et al. (US10348051B1) in view of Delavaux et al. (US20210367392A1).
Regarding claims 1, 8, and 20, Shah teaches a first input configured to receive a first beam at a signal wavelength (λs) from a seeder laser source (SLS) which includes previous stages of the chain[Fig 10, input comes from seed laser 400 (Figs 7-9); Column 25, line 64 – Column 26, line 1]; an optical pump laser (OPL) configured to generate an optical pump beam at a pump wavelength (λp) [Fig 10, Pump laser 1; Column 25, lines 51-54] a fiber-optic output configured to fusion splice to a large-core rare-earth doped power amplifier fiber (PAF); and a spectral combiner including a second input coupled to the OPL, the spectral combiner configured to spectrally combine the first beam with the optical pump beam into a single combined beam that outputs into a core of the PAF via the fiber-optic output [Fig 10, 520A; Column 28, lines 11-18 and 33-40].
Shah does not explicitly teach wherein the pump wavelength (λp) is an in-band wavelength at which the optical pump beam emitted by the OPL optically pumps the core of the PAF such that the PAF, in response to receiving the combined beam, emits an output beam at an emission wavelength greater than 2 µm. Delavaux does teach pumping the PAF with an in-band wavelength pump beam emitted by the OPL, such that the PAF emits a beam at an emission wavelength greater than 2 µm [Fig 3, 16 and P1; 0035-0036 and 0049].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the device disclosed by Shah by pumping the PAF with an in-band wavelength pump beam emitted by the OPL, such that the PAF emits a beam at an emission wavelength greater than 2 µm, similar to Delavaux with a reasonable expectation of success. Someone of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to produce a beam that is within an eye-safe wavelength [0036].
Regarding claims 2 and 12, Shah as modified above teaches the device of claim 1.
Shah does not explicitly teach wherein: the core of the PAF is doped with thulium (Tm-doped) or co-doped with holmium (Ho) and thulium (Tm); the fiber-optic output is configured to emit, into the core of the PAF, the combined beam of light at the emission wavelength that is within a spectral range from 2039 nanometers (nm) to 2040 nm; and the core is optically core-pumped by the optical pump beam emitted by the OPL that comprises at least one of: an erbium (Er) doped fiber laser source configured to emit light at the pump wavelength within a spectral range from 1540 nm to 1600 nm; a Raman fiber laser source configured to emit light at the pump wavelength within a spectral range from 1600 nm to 1700 nm; or a Tm-doped fiber laser source configured to emit light at the pump wavelength within a spectral range from 1900 nm to 1940 nm.
Delavaux does teach a PAF is doped with thulium (Tm-doped) or co-doped with holmium (Ho) and thulium (Tm), the fiber optics output emits into the core of the PAF a beam of light with wavelength ranging from 2039 nanometers (nm) to 2040 nm [Fig 3, 16; 0036], and the core is optically pumped by the beam emitted from the OPL comprising a Tm-doped fiber laser source configured to emit light with a wavelength of 1940 nm [Fig 3, 38 and P1 ; 0049].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the device disclosed by Shah by introducing a PAF doped with thulium (Tm-doped) or co-doped with holmium (Ho) and thulium (Tm), the fiber optics output emits into the core of the PAF a beam of light with wavelength ranging from 2039 nanometers (nm) to 2040 nm, and the core is optically pumped by the beam emitted from the OPL comprising a Tm-doped fiber laser source configured to emit light with a wavelength of 1940 nm, similar to Delavaux with a reasonable expectation of success. Someone of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to provide amplification over a wide dynamic range while maintaining low noise [0036].
Regarding claims 3 and 13, Shah teaches wherein: the core of the PAF is purely doped with holmium (Ho-doped); the fiber-optic output is configured to emit, into the Ho-doped core of the PAF, the combined beam of light at the emission wavelength that is approximately 2090 nanometers (nm) or greater; and the core is optically core-pumped by the optical pump beam emitted by the OPL at the pump wavelength within a spectral range from 1900 nm to 2050 nm [Fig 10, 510; Column 26, lines 18-25 and Column 31, lines 19-37].
Regarding claim 4, Shah teaches wherein the signal wavelength (λs) is approximately 2090 nanometers or greater [Fig 10, input; Column 31 lines 26-28].
Regarding claim 6, Shah teaches wherein: the SLS operates in a frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) mode [Fig 10, input, and Fig 9, 400; Column 24 lines 28-35] and the spectral combiner comprises a wavelength division multiplexer, fiber-coupled diffractive grating, or a fiber-coupled optical dichroic filter [Fig 10, 520A; Column 28, lines 11-18]
Regarding claim 7 and 16, Shah teaches wherein the SLS operates in a pulsed mode such that the first beam includes amplitude-modulated optical pulses [Fig 7, output; Column 21 line 61 – Column 22 line 3].
Regarding claim 15, Shah teaches wherein the SLS operates in a frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) mode [Fig 10, input, and Fig 9, 400; Column 24 lines 28-35].
Claim(s) 9 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shah et al. (US10348051B1) in view of Delavaux et al. (US20210367392A1) and further in view of Brasseur et al. (US7286574B2).
Regarding claim 9, Shah as modified above teaches the device of claim 8.
Shah does not teach a Raman fiber amplifier (RFA) configured to apply a process of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) to the output beam emitted from the PAF of the PAM to reshift the emission wavelength to a Raman-shifted wavelength λR.
Brasseur does teach applying SRS to the output of a PAF using a RFA to reshift the emission wavelength to a Raman-shifted wavelength [Fig 4, 84 and 82; Column 4, lines 3-6 and lines 24-27].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the device disclosed by Shah by applying SRS to the output of a PAF using a RFA to reshift the emission wavelength to a Raman-shifted wavelength, similar to Brasseur with a reasonable expectation of success. Someone of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to obtain significant gains while keeping the fiber length short [Column 4, lines 8-12].
Regarding claim 10, Shah as modified above teaches the device of claim 9.
Shah does not teach wherein the RFA comprises: a third input configured to receive the output beam emitted from the PAF of the PAM; a fourth input configured to receive a Raman seeder beam at the Raman-shifted wavelength λR; and a second WDM configured to combine, into a core of a Raman exit fiber, the beams received via the third input and the fourth input.
Brasseur does teach a third and fourth input that receive the beam emitted by the PAF and the Raman seeder beam respectively [Fig 4, 88, 82 and 86; Column 4, lines 25-37] that connect to a second WDM configured to combine the beams into the core of the Raman exit fiber [Fig 4, 88; Column 4, lines 29-31]. While Brasseur does not explicitly mention using a WDM, this is a well know technique in the art to combine multiple beams, as can be seen in Shah [Fig 10, 520A and 520B; Column 28, Lines 11-31] and Delavaux [Fig 3, 18; 0039]. Thus, it would have been obvious to use a WDM in place of the optical coupler taught by Brasseur.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the device disclosed by Shah by implementing a third and fourth input that receive the beam emitted by the PAF and the Raman seeder beam, respectively, and that connect to a second WDM configured to combine the beams into the core of the Raman exit fiber, similar to Brasseur with a reasonable expectation of success. Someone of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to obtain significant gains while keeping the fiber length short [Column 4, lines 8-12].
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shah et al. (US10348051B1) in view of Delavaux et al. (US20210367392A1) and further in view of Hamoir (US20020149839A1).
Regarding claim 11, Shah as modified above teaches the device of claim 10.
Shah does not teach wherein the core of the Raman exit fiber is at least one of: a germanium (Ge) doped fused-silica core, or phosphorous (P)-doped fused-silica core.
Hamoir does teach a Raman amplification fiber composed of a silica doped with Germanium or with Phosphorous [Fig 1, 106; 0038].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the device disclosed by Shah by implementing a Raman amplification fiber composed of a silica doped with Germanium or with Phosphorous, similar to Hamoir with a reasonable expectation of success. This would have the predictable result of a Raman fiber amplifier composed of silica doped with Germanium or with Phosphorous, to reshift an output beam.
Claim(s) 17, 18, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shah et al. (US10348051B1) in view of Delavaux et al. (US20210367392A1) and further in view of Liu (2019: “Development status of high power fiber lasers and their coherent beam combination”).
Regarding claim 17, Shah as modified above teaches the device of claim 8. Shah also teaches wherein the SLS includes a common fiber-based seeder laser source composed from an array of laser sources [Fig 8, 440-N; Column 23, lines 14-21]
Shah does not teach a fiber-optic splitter configured to receive the first beam at a signal wavelength (λs) from the SLS, and to split the first beam into N fiber-based channels that include N PAMs, respectively, the SLS configured to generate the first beam at a signal wavelength (λs) as a coherent continuous-wave or pulsed wave that the splitter receives; and a phase-locking loop that includes a beam sampler, photodetector, phase-correcting electronics, the phase-locking loop configured to receive and coherently combine N output beams respectively emitted from the N PAMs to generate a single beam having a cumulative optical power emitted by the N PAMs.
Liu does teach a splitter that receives a first beam from the SLS and splits into N fiber based channel [Fig 13, Splitter; Pag 18, Sect 5.1.2, par 2 and 3], that include N PAMs [Fig 13, AMP; Pag 18, Sect 5.1.2, par 2 and Fig 13 description] (while Liu uses the AMP for amplifying it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement the PAM from claim 8 instead, as the fiber amplifier), the SLS generates a first beam as a coherent CW that the splitter receives [Fig 13, CW laser and Splitter; Pag 18, Sect 5.1.2, par 1 and 2], a phase-locking loop that include a beam sampler, a photodetector, phase correcting electronics [Fig 13, sampler, PD, and FPGA based signal processor; Pag 18, Sect 5.1.2, par 3] the phase-locking loop combines the N outputs to generate a single beam [Fig 13, Beam combiner; Pag 18, Sect 5.1.2, par 1, 2, and 3].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the device disclosed by Shah by implementing a splitter that receives a first beam from the SLS and splits into N fiber based channel, that include N PAMs, the SLS generates a first beam as a coherent CW that the splitter receives, a phase-locking loop that include a beam sampler, a photodetector, phase correcting electronics, and the phase-locking loop combines the N outputs to generate a single beam, similar to Liu with a reasonable expectation of success. This would have the predictable result of a transmitter that can implement an array of fiber amplifiers and combine the output beams to obtain a single combined signal.
Regarding claim 18, Shah as modified above teaches the device of claim 17.
Shah does not teach a beam overlapping device configured to combine the N output beams received from the N fiber-based channels into a second single combined signal that the beam overlapping device outputs to beam sampler.
Liu does teach a beam overlapping device that combines the N-outputs into a combined signal [Fig 13, Beam combiner; Pag 18, Sect 5.1.2, par 3].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the device disclosed by Shah by implementing a beam overlapping device that combines the N-outputs into a combined signal, similar to Liu with a reasonable expectation of success. This would have the predictable result of combining the N outputs into a single beam for further processing.
Regarding claim 19, Shah as modified above teaches the device of claim 17. Shah as modified above also teaches wherein the core of the PAF is doped with thulium (Tm-doped) or co-doped with holmium (Ho) and thulium (Tm) [Shah: Column 26, lines 18-25 and Delavaux: 0036].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure
2018, Gaida et al “Ultrafast thulium fiber laser system emitting more than 1 kW of average power”; teaches a TM-doped fiber amplifier with a core diameter of 50 μm [Pag 2, par 3].
2024, Michalska et al. “Thulium-Doped 1940- and 2034-nm Fiber Amplifiers: Towards Highly Efficient, High-Power All-Fiber Laser Systems”; teaches a TM doped fiber amplifier that produces an output of 2034 nm [Pag 6, Sect V – A, par 1]
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH N ZERON CERRATO whose telephone number is (571)270-3245. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri. 7:30am-5:00pm.
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/J.N.Z./Examiner, Art Unit 3645
/ISAM A ALSOMIRI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3645
