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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (e).
Drawings
The originally filed drawings were received on 2/16/2024. These drawings are acceptable.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Abstract, line 6- ‘comprise’ should read ‘include’.
A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3-4, 17-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lukens et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2020/0274703 A1), of record.
Lukens et al. discloses an apparatus (See for example Abstract; Figures 1-15) for generating a non-Gaussian quantum state associated with one or more spectral modes, the apparatus comprising a quantum optical frequency comb source (See for example 202 in Figure 2A; Paragraph 0043; 1002 in Figure 10) comprising at least one nonlinear optical medium (See for example Paragraph 0043, in the instant case, PPLN) and configured to provide a plurality of spectral modes spaced at a frequency-bin spacing, where the spectral modes include a plurality of pairs of entangled spectral modes, each pair of entangled spectral modes including a first spectral mode centered at a first frequency, and a second spectral mode entangled with the first spectral mode and centered at a second frequency that is spaced from the first frequency at a multiple of the frequency-bin spacing; and a plurality of electrically controllable optical transformation modules (See for example 214 in Figure 2A; (1004, 1006, 1008) taken as a single module, 1010a, 1010b, 1010c in Figure 1) connected in series with a first module (See for example 214 in Figure 2A; (1004, 1006, 1008) in Figure 10) in the series receiving spectral modes from the quantum optical frequency comb, where two or more of the modules each comprise a spectral mode phase shifter (See for example 224 in Figure 2A; 1006, 1012a, 1012b, 1012c in Figure 10; Paragraph 0005, 0043) configured to apply respective phase shifts to different spectral modes based on at least a first electrical signal (See for example 232 in Figure 2A), and a spectral mode mixer (See for example 226, 228 in Figure 2A; 1004, 1008, 1012a, , 1012c, 1014c in Figure 10; Paragraphs 0005, 0043) coupled to the spectral mode phase shifter and configured to couple spectral modes centered at different frequencies based on at least a second electrical signal (See for example 230 in Figure 2A). Lukens et al. further discloses each spectral mode phase shifter comprises a Fourier-transform pulse shaper (See for example 224 in Figure 2A; 1006, 1012a, 1012b, 1012c in Figure 10; Paragraphs 0035, 0043); each spectral mode mixer comprises an electro-optic phase modulator (See for example 226, 228 in Figure 2A; 1004, 1008, 1012a, 1012b, 1012c, 1014c in Figure 10; Paragraph 0043); a plurality of the modules in the series are integrated on a common photonic integrated circuit (See for example 214 in Figure 2A; 608, 614 in Figure 6; 712, 714, 718 in Figure 7; Figures 8-9); and the frequency-bin spacing is a free spectral range of an optical parametric oscillator that includes the nonlinear optical medium (See for example 202 in Figure 2A; Paragraphs 0031, 0043; 1002 in Figure 10).
Lukens et al. additionally disclose a method (See for example Abstract; Figures 1-15) for generating a non-Gaussian quantum state associated with one or more spectral modes, the method comprising providing from a quantum optical frequency comb source (See for example 202 in Figure 2A; Paragraph 0043; 1002 in Figure 10), comprising at least one nonlinear optical medium (See for example Paragraph 0043, in the instant case, PPLN), a plurality of spectral modes spaced at a frequency-bin spacing, where the spectral modes include a plurality of pairs of entangled spectral modes, each pair of entangled spectral modes including a first spectral mode centered at a first frequency, and a second spectral mode entangled with the first spectral mode and centered at a second frequency that is spaced from the first frequency at a multiple of the frequency-bin spacing; and receiving spectral modes from the quantum optical frequency comb into a first module (See for example 214 in Figure 2A; (1004, 1006, 1008) in Figure 10) of a plurality of electrically controllable optical transformation modules (See for example 214 in Figure 2A; (1004, 1006, 1008) taken as a single module, 1010a, 1010b, 1010c in Figure 1) connected in series, where two or more of the modules each comprise a spectral mode phase shifter (See for example 224 in Figure 2A; 1006, 1012a, 1012b, 1012c in Figure 10; Paragraph 0005, 0043) configured to apply respective phase shifts to different spectral modes based on at least a first electrical signal (See for example 232 in Figure 2A), and a spectral mode mixer (See for example 226, 228 in Figure 2A; 1004, 1008, 1012a, , 1012c, 1014c in Figure 10; Paragraphs 0005, 0043) coupled to the spectral mode phase shifter and configured to couple spectral modes centered at different frequencies based on at least a second electrical signal (See for example 230 in Figure 2A).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 5-16 are 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 the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 20-24 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 2 is allowable over the cited art of record for at least the reason that the cited art of record fails to teach or reasonably suggest an apparatus as generally set forth in Claim 2, the apparatus including, in combination with the features recited in Claim 2, one or more of the electrically controllable optical transformation modules are configured to transform each pair of entangled spectral modes into single-mode squeezed vacuum states.
Claim 5 is allowable over the cited art of record for at least the reason that the cited art of record fails to teach or reasonably suggest an apparatus as generally set forth in Claim 5, the apparatus including, in combination with the features recited in Claim 5, the output interface including a plurality of photon number resolving (PNR) detectors configured to detect respective spectral modes of more than one and fewer than all spectral modes output from the last module in the series, and at least one port providing at least one output spectral mode from the last module in the series not detected by any of the PNR detectors. Claims 6-16 are dependent on Claim 5, and hence are allowable for at least the same reasons Claim 5 is allowable.
Claim 20 is allowable over the cited art of record for at least the reason that the cited art of record fails to teach or reasonably suggest an apparatus as generally set forth in Claim 20, the apparatus including, in combination with the features recited in Claim 20, the output interface including a plurality of photon number resolving (PNR) detectors configured to detect respective spectral modes of more than one and fewer than all spectral modes output from the last module in the series, and at least one port providing at least one output spectral mode from the last module in the series not detected by any of the PNR detectors; wherein each PNR detector is configured to generate a detection signal that distinguishes a detected photon number equal to zero from a detected photon number equal to one, in each of a plurality of time slots, and distinguishes a detected photon number equal to one from at least one detected photon number greater than one, in each of the plurality of time slots. Claims 21-24 are dependent on Claim 20, and hence are allowable for at least the same reasons Claim 20 is allowable.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
M. Kues, et al., 'On-chip generation of high-dimensional entangled quantum states and their coherent control', Nature, vol. 546, June 29, 2017, pp. 622-631.
Z. Yang et al., 'A squeezed quantum microcomb on a chip', Nature Communications, 12:4781, August 6, 2021, pp. 1-8.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ARNEL C LAVARIAS whose telephone number is (571)272-2315. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:30 AM-7 PM.
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ARNEL C. LAVARIAS
Primary Examiner
Group Art Unit 2872
1/15/2026
/ARNEL C LAVARIAS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872