Detailed Office 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 .
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 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.
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
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.
Claims 20 and 34-38
Claims 20 and 34-38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Watts (2017/0315387; “Watts”) in view of Lu et al. (Leaky Modes Analysis in Very Deeply Etched Semiconductor Ridge Waveguides, IEEE PHOTONICS TECHNOLOGY LETTERS, VOL. 22, NO. 6, MARCH 15, 2010; “Lu”) and further in view of Jung, Hongsik (Modal Analysis and Design of Silicon Nitride Rib Waveguides for Evanescent-wave Bimodal Biosensors, Current Optics and Photonics, Vol. 3, No. 5, October 2019, pp. 382-389; “Jung”).
Regarding claim 20, Watts discloses in figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14, and related figures and text, for example, Watts – Selected Text, embodiments of light-emitting devices comprising ‘emitter elements used to form an antenna for each waveguide … that results in emitted light that is coherent and emits in a single direction.” Watts, paragraph [0066].
Watts – Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14
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Watts – Selected Text
[0075] Referring to FIG. 2C, an antenna layer 35 is located above a phase shifter layer 37. The antenna layer 35 includes three light-emitting regions 36a-c and the phase-shifter layer 29 includes three phase shifter regions 38a-c, though the number of regions in each layer is not limited to three. Multiple splitting distribution network regions 40a-c are disposed in a splitting network layer 39 that is located at a depth level that is lower than the depth level of the phase shifter layer 37. There are also two transition layers, a first transition layer 41 and a second transition layer 43. The transition layer 41 includes transition regions 42a-c, which each include a plurality of waveguides. The transition layer 43 also includes multiple transition regions 44a-c, which each include a plurality of waveguides. The transition regions provide optical isolation between the phase shifter layer 37 and the antenna 35 by vertically separating these layers in the depth direction such that waveguides in the phase shifter layer 37 do not directly optically couple with waveguides in the antenna layer 35. This prevents cross-talk between the layers. The waveguides in the first transition layer 41 receive light from waveguides in the phase shifter layer 37; the waveguides in the second transition layer 43 receive light from waveguides in the first transition layer 41; the waveguides of the antenna layer 35 receive light from the waveguides of the second transition layer 43. Consequently, the phase shifter layer 37 is located at a depth level that is between the antenna layer 35 and the splitting network layer 39, but the phase shifter layer 37 is separated from the antenna layer 35 by multiple transition layers. While two transition layers are illustrated in FIG. 2C, a single transition layer may be used or more than two transition layers may be used. A unit cell 45 includes a splitting distribution region 40b, a phase shifter region 38b, a first transition region 42b, a second transition region 44b, and a light-emitting region 36b. The light-emitting region 36b is above the phase shifter region 338c of a different unit cell because the waveguides of the light-emitting region 36b receives light, via the transition regions 42b and 44b, from the phase shifter region 38b, which is located at an adjacent position.
[0076] An optical layer transition is used to optically couple a waveguide from a first layer to a waveguide located in a second layer that is above or below the first layer. Non-limiting examples of optical layer transitions include an inverse taper element, a grating-to-grating coupler, or a periscope. The periscope includes an arrangement of at least two reflective surfaces that guide light from the waveguide of the first layer to the waveguide of the second layer using reflection. An example of an inverse taper element is an “optical escalator.” Referring to FIG. 1F, an optical escalator 16 includes a first waveguide 17 at a first depth level and a second waveguide 18 at a second depth level. The first waveguide 17 is tapered such that the width of the first waveguide 17 decreases from a first width to a termination width at which the first waveguide 17 terminates. The second waveguide 18 is tapered in the opposite direction of the first waveguide 17 such that the width of the second waveguide 18 begins with an initial width and grows into a waveguide with a second width. The first waveguide 17 and the second waveguide 18 overlap vertically (in a depth direction) such that the second waveguide 18 is above the first waveguide 17, or vice versa, for an overlap length, L.sub.o. The first waveguide 17 and the second waveguide 18 are parallel in at least a region where the two waveguides overlap. Light that is guided by the first waveguide 17 from the left to the right will adiabatically couple to the second waveguide 18 such that light that was originally guided at the first depth level will be raised to the second depth level, thus completing a transition between layers of the optical device.
[0108] Referring to FIG. 14, a waveguide core 150 is located in a waveguide layer that is at a first depth level and a grating antenna 152 is located in a perturbation layer that is at a second depth level different from the first depth level. The perturbation layer is above the waveguide layer and includes a first emitter layer 154 and a second emitter layer 156. Each of the emitter layer 154 and 156 includes multiple emitter elements that form the grating antenna 146. Neither emitter layer is in in physical contact with the waveguide core 150. The first emitter layer 154 is separated from the waveguide core 150 by a gap distance, d.sub.g. The second emitter layer is separated from the first emitter layer by a separation distance, d.sub.s.
[0109] Each emitter element of the first emitter layer 154 have a first length in a longitudinal direction along the length of the waveguide core 150 and each emitter element of the second emitter layer 156 have a second length in the longitudinal direction. The lengths of the emitters in each emitter layer may be different. For example, as illustrated, the emitter element length of the first emitter layer 154 is greater than the emitter element length of the second emitter layer 156. However, the emitter element length of the first emitter layer 154 may also be less than or equal to the emitter element length of the second emitter layer 156.
[0110] The first emitter layer 154 has a first thickness, h.sub.1, in the depth direction and the second emitter layer 156 has a second thickness, h.sub.2, in the depth direction. The second thickness, h.sub.2, may be greater than the first thickness, h.sub.1, to ensure that the second emitter layer 156 perturbs the light guided by the waveguide with the same strength as the first emitter layer 154. This is due to the intensity of the light guided by the waveguide decreasing as a function of distance from the waveguide core 150. Other techniques for ensuring the perturbation of the two emitter layers are approximately equal may also be used. For example, instead of forming the first emitter layer 154 and the second layer 156 from the same material, as illustrated in FIG. 14, the emitter elements of the first emitter layer 154 may be formed from a different material than the emitter elements of the second emitter layer 156. For example, if the emitter elements of the second emitter layer 156 are formed from a material with a larger dielectric constant than a material used to form the emitter elements of the first emitter layer 154, then the thickness in the depth direction of the two emitter layers may be approximately equal.
[0111] The direction light is emitted by the grating antenna 152 can be tuned by setting the gap distance, d.sub.g, the separation distance, d.sub.s, and also an offset distance, d.sub.g, which is a distance that the center of the emitter elements of the second emitter layer 156 are offset relative to the center of the emitter elements of the first emitter layer 154. For example, to tune the emission direction to be vertical in the upward direction, the offset distance, d.sub.o, is approximately ±λ.sub.eff/4+mλ/2, wherein λ.sub.eff is an effective wavelength of light guided by the waveguide and m is an integer, and the separation distance, d.sub.s, is approximately λ.sub.c/4+nλ.sub.c/2, wherein n is an integer and λ.sub.c is an effective wavelength of light in the cladding volume. Other angles of emission can be achieved by setting the offset distance, d.sub.o, and the separation distance, d.sub.s, to different values. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, the first offset distance, d.sub.o, is positive, meaning the light traveling from left to right through the waveguide first encounters the first emitter layer 154, not the second emitter layer 156. This results in the majority of the light being emitted in an upward vertical direction. If the offset distance, d.sub.o, is instead set to be negative, meaning the light traveling from left to right through the waveguide first encounters the second emitter layer 156, not the first emitter layer 154, then the majority of the light emitted by the grating antenna 152 is emitted in a downward vertical direction.
[0112] The emitter elements of any grating antenna used in example optical devices may be formed from various materials. For example, silicon, silicon nitride, poly/amorphous silicon, liquid crystals, aluminum nitride, indium titanium oxide, metals, or germanium may be used to form emitter elements. In some embodiments, a material used to form a grating antenna above a waveguide core may have a higher index of refraction than a material from which the waveguide core is formed. Additionally, as discussed above, if a perturbation layer of a grating antenna includes multiple emitter layers, then each emitter layer may be formed from different materials. For example, a first emitter layer that is nearer to a waveguide core than a second emitter layer may be formed from a material with an index of refraction that is less than the index of refraction of a material used to form the second emitter layer.
[0113] To change the emission rate along the waveguide core 150, the gap distance, d.sub.s, between the waveguide layer and the first emitter layer can be changed. Changing this distance is independent of the profile of the layers themselves so new lithography masks do not have to be fabricated to change the emission rate of the antenna from wafer to wafer. Furthermore, changing the gap distance, d.sub.s, does not change the directionality of the emission because the directionality is determined by the horizontal and vertical offset of the emitter layers 154 and 156. Changing the gap distance, d.sub.s, allows for a robust and inexpensive way to tune the emission of light from an optical device.
Further regarding claim 20, while Watts discloses in figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14, and related figures and text, for example, Watts – Selected Text, waveguiding embodiments which control light emission by tailoring waveguide composition, waveguide dimensions, and waveguide contours, by inserting local changes in composition, dimensions, and contours, such as gratings, and by tailoring waveguide arrays, including separations and dimensional and compositional differences between adjacent waveguides (laterally and vertically), Watts does not explicitly disclose an optical antenna embodiment comprising a waveguide structure formed on a substrate, the waveguide structure comprising a waveguide core and a waveguide fin intersecting substantially under a right angle, wherein a height of the waveguide fin is larger than a height of the waveguide core; and the width of the waveguide core is equal to or larger than twice a height of the waveguide core; and the height of the waveguide fin is equal to or larger than twice a width of the waveguide fin; and wherein a center axis of the waveguide fin is off-centered with respect to a center axis of the waveguide core at an offset, thereby forming an optical antenna configured to leak radiation in a radiation direction.
However, Lu discloses in figures 2 – 5, and related text, the dimensional leaky modes of deep ridge waveguides loaded onto slab/substrates are determined, in part, by waveguide dimensions. Lu, IV. Conclusion (“Leaky loss of higher order lateral modes in very deeply etched semiconductor ridge waveguides have been analyzed … It is found that when the etching depth under the waveguide core is deep enough, the leaky loss tends to saturate. The mode coupling between these higher order modes of the ridge waveguide and the modes of the lower cladding slab waveguide formed by deep etching explains this leaky loss saturation behavior.”). Here, the examiner notes that the similarities between Lu’s inverse-T waveguide contour and the instant application’s waveguide-with-fin contour.
Lu – Figures 4 and 5
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Consequently, in light of Lu’s disclosure of the mode-dependent leaky behavior inverse-T waveguide contours; Lu, figures 2 – 5, and related text; it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Watts’ optical antenna embodiments; Watts, figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14, and related figures and text, for example, Watts – Selected Text; to disclose: a waveguide structure formed on a substrate, the waveguide structure comprising a waveguide core and a waveguide fin intersecting substantially under a right angle, wherein a height of the waveguide fin is larger than a height of the waveguide core; and the width of the waveguide core is equal to or larger than twice a height of the waveguide core; and the height of the waveguide fin is equal to or larger than twice a width of the waveguide fin; and wherein a center axis of the waveguide fin is off-centered with respect to a center axis of the waveguide core at an offset, thereby forming an optical antenna configured to leak radiation in a radiation direction; Lu, figures 2 – 5, and related text; Watts, figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14, and related figures and text, for example, Watts – Selected Text; because the resultant configuration would facilitate designing, fabricating, and deploying optical antenna with directed leaky behavior. Jung, figures 1-6, and related text, for example, II. THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF A Si3N4 RIB OPTICAL WAVEGUIDE (“One of the peaks of the higher-order modes in the rib optical waveguide is coupled to the fundamental mode of the slab optical waveguide located around the rib optical waveguide, and eventually converted into a leaky mode. Therefore, when the ratio of the width w and height H of the rib structure is appropriately adjusted, the single-mode transmission characteristic can be obtained …”).
Regarding claims 34-38, as dependent upon claim 20, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Watts’ in view of Lu and further in view of Jung’s leaky optical antenna embodiments, as applied in the rejection of claim 20, to disclose:
34. The optical antenna according to claim 20, wherein the waveguide structure is a dielectric or semiconductor waveguide structure, and wherein the waveguide core has a refractive index contrast of above 10% with respect to surrounding materials. Lu, figures 2 – 5, and related text; Watts, figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14, and related figures and text, for example, Watts – Selected Text; Jung, figures 1-6, and related text.
35. The optical antenna according to claim 20, wherein the width of the waveguide fin is substantially equal to the height of the waveguide core. Lu, figures 2 – 5, and related text; Watts, figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14, and related figures and text, for example, Watts – Selected Text; Jung, figures 1-6, and related text.
36. The optical antenna according to claim 20, wherein an optical thickness of the waveguide fin is larger than an optical thickness of the waveguide core. Lu, figures 2 – 5, and related text; Watts, figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14, and related figures and text, for example, Watts – Selected Text; Jung, figures 1-6, and related text.
37. An optical phased antenna array comprising a plurality of optical antennas according to claim 20. Lu, figures 2 – 5, and related text; Watts, figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14, and related figures and text, for example, Watts – Selected Text; Jung, figures 1-6, and related text.
38. The optical phase antenna array according to claim 37, wherein the optical antennas are arranged to form a one-dimensional antenna array. Lu, figures 2 – 5, and related text; Watts, figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14, and related figures and text, for example, Watts – Selected Text; Jung, figures 1-6, and related text.
because the resultant configurations would facilitate designing, fabricating, and deploying optical antenna with directed leaky behavior. Jung, figures 1-6, and related text.
Claims 21-33
Dependent claims 21-33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Watts (2017/0315387; “Watts”) in view of Lu et al. (Leaky Modes Analysis in Very Deeply Etched Semiconductor Ridge Waveguides, IEEE PHOTONICS TECHNOLOGY LETTERS, VOL. 22, NO. 6, MARCH 15, 2010; “Lu”) and further in view of Jung, Hongsik (Modal Analysis and Design of Silicon Nitride Rib Waveguides for Evanescent-wave Bimodal Biosensors, Current Optics and Photonics, Vol. 3, No. 5, October 2019, pp. 382-389; “Jung”), as applied in the rejection of claims 20 and 34-38, further in view of Barrow et al. (Leaky mode coupling in asymmetric subwavelength dielectric gratings, 2017 IEEE Photonics Conference (IPC), Orlando, FL, USA, 2017, pp. 555-556; “Barrow”) and further in view of Nguyen et al. (Rigorous Modeling of Lateral Leakage Loss in SOI Thin-Ridge Waveguides and Couplers, IEEE PHOTONICS TECHNOLOGY LETTERS, VOL. 21, NO. 7, APRIL 1, 2009; “Nguyen”).
Regarding claims 21-33, Barrow discloses in figure 1, and related figures and text, leaky mode coupling characteristics exhibited by asymmetric subwavelength dielectric gratings. Barrow, figure 1, Abstract (disclosing that “asymmetric subwavelength dielectric gratings can couple to symmetry-protected leaky modes”) and Transmittance Peak Broadening (“The strength of the coupling to the leaky modes is a measure of how quickly the light radiates out of the gratings, analogous to lifetime broadening in a harmonic oscillator. The stronger the coupling to the leaky mode, the faster the light radiates away …”).
Consequently, in light of Barrow’s disclosure of asymmetric subwavelength gratings, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Watts’ in view of Lu and further in view of Jung’s leaky optical antenna embodiments, as applied in the rejection of claims 20 and 34-38, to disclose:
21. The optical antenna according to claim 20, wherein the offset varies along the length of the waveguide core, and wherein the offset substantially controls the radiation leakage in the radiation direction. Lu, figures 2 – 5, and related text; Watts, figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14, and related figures and text, for example, Watts – Selected Text; Jung, figures 1-6, and related text; Barrow, figure 1, and related figures and text.
22. The optical antenna according to claim 20, wherein the waveguide core has a substantially rectangular cross-section with a width varying along the length of the waveguide core, and wherein the variation of the width of the rectangular cross-section of the waveguide core substantially controls the direction of the radiation leakage along the length of the waveguide core. Lu, figures 2 – 5, and related text; Watts, figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14, and related figures and text, for example, Watts – Selected Text; Jung, figures 1-6, and related text; Barrow, figure 1, and related figures and text.
23. The optical antenna according to claim 20, wherein the waveguide fin has a substantially rectangular cross-section with an aspect ratio higher than the aspect ratio of the cross-section of the waveguide core and a width varying along the length of the waveguide fin, and wherein the variation of the width of the rectangular cross-section of the waveguide fin substantially controls the direction of the radiation leakage along the length of the waveguide core. Lu, figures 2 – 5, and related text; Watts, figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14, and related figures and text, for example, Watts – Selected Text; Jung, figures 1-6, and related text; Barrow, figure 1, and related figures and text.
24. The optical antenna according to claim 21, wherein the variation of the width of the rectangular cross-section of the waveguide core and the variation of the offset defines the coupling between a guided mode and a radiation mode of the waveguide structure. Lu, figures 2 – 5, and related text; Watts, figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14, and related figures and text, for example, Watts – Selected Text; Jung, figures 1-6, and related text; Barrow, figure 1, and related figures and text.
25. The optical antenna according to claim 21, wherein the variation of the width of the rectangular cross-section of the waveguide fin and the variation of the offset defines the coupling between a guided mode and a radiation mode of the waveguide structure. Lu, figures 2 – 5, and related text; Watts, figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14, and related figures and text, for example, Watts – Selected Text; Jung, figures 1-6, and related text; Barrow, figure 1, and related figures and text.
26. The optical antenna according to claim 20, wherein the control of the leakage rate and the control of the leakage direction along the length of the waveguide core is defined by the variations of any one or combination of the width of the cross-section of the waveguide core, the width of the cross-section of the waveguide fin, and their position relative to one another. Lu, figures 2 – 5, and related text; Watts, figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14, and related figures and text, for example, Watts – Selected Text; Jung, figures 1-6, and related text; Barrow, figure 1, and related figures and text.
27. The optical antenna according to claim 26, wherein the optical antenna is configured to generate an optical beam with a beam profile defined by the leakage rate and the leakage direction along the length of the waveguide core. Lu, figures 2 – 5, and related text; Watts, figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14, and related figures and text, for example, Watts – Selected Text; Jung, figures 1-6, and related text; Barrow, figure 1, and related figures and text.
28. The optical antenna according to claim 27, wherein the optical antenna is configured to generate an optical beam with a substantially Gaussian beam profile by varying the leakage rate along the length of the waveguide core. Lu, figures 2 – 5, and related text; Watts, figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14, and related figures and text, for example, Watts – Selected Text; Jung, figures 1-6, and related text; Barrow, figure 1, and related figures and text.
29. The optical antenna according to claim 28, wherein the optical antenna is configured to generate the optical beam with a collimated and substantially Gaussian beam profile by varying the leakage rate and by maintaining the leakage direction substantially uniform along the length of the waveguide core. Lu, figures 2 – 5, and related text; Watts, figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14, and related figures and text, for example, Watts – Selected Text; Jung, figures 1-6, and related text; Barrow, figure 1, and related figures and text.
30. The optical antenna according to claim 27, wherein the beam profile along the length of the waveguide core is characterized with a beam waist in the range of centimeters and a beam projection distance in the range of hundreds of meters. Lu, figures 2 – 5, and related text; Watts, figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14, and related figures and text, for example, Watts – Selected Text; Jung, figures 1-6, and related text; Barrow, figure 1, and related figures and text.
31. The optical antenna according to claim 27, wherein the beam profile is wavelength dependent and wherein the wavelength dependency is controlled by varying any one or combination of the width of the cross-section of the waveguide core, the width of the cross-section of the waveguide fin, and their position relative to one another. Lu, figures 2 – 5, and related text; Watts, figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14, and related figures and text, for example, Watts – Selected Text; Jung, figures 1-6, and related text; Barrow, figure 1, and related figures and text.
32. The optical antenna according to claim 20, wherein the fin is provided with a diffraction grating, or a refractive optical element configured to couple the radiation into free space. Lu, figures 2 – 5, and related text; Watts, figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14, and related figures and text, for example, Watts – Selected Text; Jung, figures 1-6, and related text; Barrow, figure 1, and related figures and text.
33. The optical antenna according to claim 32, wherein the diffraction grating is a periodic diffraction grating with a refractive index contrast of above 10%. Lu, figures 2 – 5, and related text; Watts, figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14, and related figures and text, for example, Watts – Selected Text; Jung, figures 1-6, and related text; Barrow, figure 1, and related figures and text.
because the resultant configurations would facilitate designing, fabricating, and deploying optical antenna with directed leaky behavior; Jung, figures 1-6, and related text; by manipulating material discontinuities and local dimensions at waveguide boundaries. Nguyen, figures 1-4, and related figures and text.
Nguyen – Figures 1-4
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Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER RADKOWSKI whose telephone number is (571)270-1613. The examiner can normally be reached on M-Th 9-5. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Hollweg, can be reached on (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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/PETER RADKOWSKI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874