DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
The preliminary amendment filed on 03/20/2024 has been entered and fully considered.
Claims 4-5, 7, and 10 have been amended.
Claims 11-18 have been newly added.
Claims 1-18 are pending in Instant Application.
Priority
Examiner acknowledges Applicant’s claim to priority benefits of Chinese Patent Application No. 202211393706.X filed with the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) on Nov. 8, 2022, and U.S. Application No. 63/403,301 titled "Giant cavity surface emitting laser" filled with the U.S. Patent Office on Sep. 2, 2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 03/20/2024, 11/21/2025, and 06/16/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is/are being considered if signed and initialed by the Examiner.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2, 7, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Laflaquiere et al. (US 11,418,006). As per claim 1, Laflaquiere discloses a giant cavity surface-emitting laser, comprising: a giant cavity (see at least column 1 lines 36-43; wherein VCSELs (vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers)); a lower Bragg reflector located on a side of the giant cavity (see at least column 2 lines 1-20; wherein a lower distributed Bragg-reflector (DBR) stack); and an upper Bragg reflector located on a side of the giant cavity facing away from the lower Bragg reflector (see at least column 2 lines 1-20; wherein an upper DBR stack); wherein the giant cavity comprises a multi-junction active region containing at least two active layers (see at least column 1 line 64 to column 2 line 20; wherein an optoelectronic device, including a semiconductor substrate and an optically-active structure, which includes a first set of epitaxial layers disposed on an area of the substrate and defining a lower distributed Bragg-reflector (DBR) stack. A second set of epitaxial layers, disposed over the first set, defines a quantum well structure with P- and N-doped layers disposed respectively on opposing sides of the quantum well structure. A third set of epitaxial layers, disposed over the second set, defines an upper DBR stack and defining, together with the lower DBR stack, an optical cavity having a resonant frequency), and the giant cavity comprises at least one of: an anti-reflection light reservoir located between the multi-junction active region and the lower Bragg reflector or an anti-reflection light reservoir located between the multi-junction active region and the upper Bragg reflector (see at least column 8 lines 46-58; wherein upper DBR stack 42 will reflect nearly 100% of light that is incident on optically-active structure 28 over a range of about 900-980 nm, except in the narrow band of resonant dip 60); wherein the anti-reflection light reservoir is configured to increase an optical field intensity peak of the anti-reflection light reservoir to a value higher than an optical field intensity peak of the multi-junction active region and store optical field energy (see at least column 8 lines 46-58; wherein upper DBR stack 42 will reflect nearly 100% of light that is incident on optically-active structure 28 over a range of about 900-980 nm, except in the narrow band of resonant dip 60. Therefore, in phase 3, ambient light outside the emission band at 940 nm will be strongly filtered out by the DBR stack, thus enhancing the signal/background ratio of the actual reflections of pulse 52 that are detected by optically-active structure 28. The resonant transmission illustrated by dip 60 is also highly directional, meaning that even radiation in the 940 nm band will be rejected if it deviates from the normal direction (as will occur if the radiation is not a result of direct reflection of pulse 52 from target 54)); wherein a current confinement layer defining a light-emitting region is disposed within the multi-junction active region or near an outer side of the multi-junction active region (see at least column 2 lines 21-26; wherein a confinement layer in proximity to the quantum well structure, the confinement layer including a central region including a semiconducting material and a peripheral region surrounding the central part and including a dielectric material). As per claim 2, Laflaquiere discloses wherein the anti- reflection light reservoir comprises an anti-reflection layer and a light reservoir; wherein the anti-reflection layer is located between the light reservoir and the multi- junction active region; the anti-reflection layer is configured to increase an optical field intensity peak of the light reservoir to the value higher than the optical field intensity peak of the multi-junction active region; and the light reservoir is configured to store the optical field energy (see at least column 8 lines 46-58; wherein upper DBR stack 42 will reflect nearly 100% of light that is incident on optically-active structure 28 over a range of about 900-980 nm, except in the narrow band of resonant dip 60. Therefore, in phase 3, ambient light outside the emission band at 940 nm will be strongly filtered out by the DBR stack, thus enhancing the signal/background ratio of the actual reflections of pulse 52 that are detected by optically-active structure 28. The resonant transmission illustrated by dip 60 is also highly directional, meaning that even radiation in the 940 nm band will be rejected if it deviates from the normal direction (as will occur if the radiation is not a result of direct reflection of pulse 52 from target 54)). As per claim 7, Laflaquiere discloses wherein at least one current confinement layer is provided; an optical path length between a center of the at least one current confinement layer along a direction perpendicular to the at least two active layers and a nearest wave node of a standing-wave optical field is less than one-tenth of a lasing wavelength; and in a case where the at least one current confinement layer is on the outer side of the multi-junction active region, the at least one current confinement layer is located within two lasing wavelengths from a side of the multi-junction active region along a direction perpendicular to the multi- junction active region (see at least column 7 lines 41-54; wherein optically-active structure 28 in the present embodiment comprises a confinement layer 46 in proximity to quantum well structure 40. Confinement layer 46 comprises a central region made up of a semiconducting material and a peripheral region surrounding the central region and comprising a dielectric material, such as an oxidation layer. Confinement layer 46 is useful, as is known in the art, in confining both the electrical current and the optical emission of quantum well structure 40 to the central region. Optically-active structure 28 may also comprise a multiplication layer in proximity to quantum well structure 40 (as shown in FIG. 6B), which gives rise, during phase 3, to avalanche amplification of photocurrent induced due to absorption of photons in quantum well structure 40). As per claim 9, Laflaquiere discloses further comprising a substrate, wherein the substrate is located on a side of the lower Bragg reflector facing away from the at least two active layers, and material of the substrate comprises gallium arsenide (GaAs) or silicon (Si) (see at least column 2 lines 27-29; wherein the semiconductor substrate includes silicon, and the epitaxial layers of the optically-active structure include a III-V semiconductor material); or the giant cavity surface-emitting laser further comprising a transparent top substrate, wherein the transparent top substrate is located on a side of the upper Bragg reflector facing away from the at least two active layers, and material of the transparent top substrate comprises sapphire, quartz, glass, or a transparent polymer.
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.
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(a) 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.
Claims 3, 6, 10-12, 15-16, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Laflaquiere et al. (US 11,418,006) in view of Cho et al. (USPGPub 2008/0031289). As per claim 3, Laflaquiere does not explicitly mention wherein along a direction perpendicular to the at least two active layers, an optical thickness of the light reservoir is greater than one-half of a lasing wavelength and is an integer multiple of one-half of the lasing wavelength; and refractive indices of the light reservoir are uniformly distributed. However Cho does disclose: wherein along a direction perpendicular to the at least two active layers, an optical thickness of the light reservoir is greater than one-half of a lasing wavelength and is an integer multiple of one-half of the lasing wavelength; and refractive indices of the light reservoir are uniformly distributed (see at least paragraph 0034; wherein the reflective layer 101 may be a Distributed Bragg Reflector (DBR) layer. The reflective layer 101 may include a sequence of alternating layers of two semiconductor materials with different refractive indices, each of which has a thickness of about one quarter of the wavelength of primary light (.lamda..sub.2/4). For example, a DBR layer reflecting primary light and transmitting pump light may be formed by alternating Al.sub.xGa.sub.(1-x)As and Al.sub.yGa.sub.(1-y)As layers (0.ltoreq.x, y.ltoreq., x.noteq.y) having a thickness of about .lamda..sub.2/4). Therefore it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings as in Cho with the teachings as in Laflaquiere. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve polarization characteristics to increase efficiency of coupling with the periodically poled (PP) structure of the non-linear optical element 130, see Cho paragraph 0041. As per claim 6, Laflaquiere does not explicitly mention wherein the anti- reflection light reservoir comprises a plurality of first semiconductor material layers and a plurality of second semiconductor material layers, wherein the plurality of first semiconductor material layers and the plurality of second semiconductor material layers are arranged alternately in sequence; wherein a number of the plurality of first semiconductor material layers is the same as a number of the plurality of second semiconductor material layers, an optical thickness of each of the plurality of first semiconductor material layers is the same as an optical thickness of each of the plurality of second semiconductor material layers, and a refractive index of each of the plurality of first semiconductor material layers is different from a refractive index of each of the plurality of second semiconductor material layers. However Cho does disclose: wherein the anti- reflection light reservoir comprises a plurality of first semiconductor material layers and a plurality of second semiconductor material layers, wherein the plurality of first semiconductor material layers and the plurality of second semiconductor material layers are arranged alternately in sequence; wherein a number of the plurality of first semiconductor material layers is the same as a number of the plurality of second semiconductor material layers, an optical thickness of each of the plurality of first semiconductor material layers is the same as an optical thickness of each of the plurality of second semiconductor material layers, and a refractive index of each of the plurality of first semiconductor material layers is different from a refractive index of each of the plurality of second semiconductor material layers (see at least paragraph 0034; wherein the reflective layer 101 may be a Distributed Bragg Reflector (DBR) layer. The reflective layer 101 may include a sequence of alternating layers of two semiconductor materials with different refractive indices, each of which has a thickness of about one quarter of the wavelength of primary light (.lamda..sub.2/4)). Therefore it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings as in Cho with the teachings as in Laflaquiere. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve polarization characteristics to increase efficiency of coupling with the periodically poled (PP) structure of the non-linear optical element 130, see Cho paragraph 0041. As per claim 10, Laflaquiere does not explicitly mention wherein along a direction perpendicular to the at least two active layers, a cavity length of the giant cavity ranges from 1 pm to 15 pm. However Cho does disclose: wherein along a direction perpendicular to the at least two active layers, a cavity length of the giant cavity ranges from 1 pm to 15 pm (see at least paragraph 0006; wherein a complicated optical system is typically required to couple a 1060 nm DFB laser into an SHG waveguide at least because the 1060 nm DFB laser has a large divergence angle and an asymmetric optical profile). Therefore it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings as in Cho with the teachings as in Laflaquiere. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve polarization characteristics to increase efficiency of coupling with the periodically poled (PP) structure of the non-linear optical element 130, see Cho paragraph 0041. As per claim 11, Laflaquiere does not explicitly mention wherein along a direction perpendicular to the at least two active layers, a cavity length of the giant cavity ranges from 1 pnm to 15 pm. However Cho does disclose: wherein along a direction perpendicular to the at least two active layers, a cavity length of the giant cavity ranges from 1 pnm to 15 pm (see at least paragraph 0006; wherein a complicated optical system is typically required to couple a 1060 nm DFB laser into an SHG waveguide at least because the 1060 nm DFB laser has a large divergence angle and an asymmetric optical profile). Therefore it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings as in Cho with the teachings as in Laflaquiere. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve polarization characteristics to increase efficiency of coupling with the periodically poled (PP) structure of the non-linear optical element 130, see Cho paragraph 0041. As per claim 12, Cho discloses wherein along the direction perpendicular to the at least two active layers, a cavity length of the giant cavity ranges from 1 µm to 15 µm (see at least paragraph 0006; wherein a complicated optical system is typically required to couple a 1060 nm DFB laser into an SHG waveguide at least because the 1060 nm DFB laser has a large divergence angle and an asymmetric optical profile). As per claim 15, Cho discloses wherein along a direction perpendicular to the at least two active layers, a cavity length of the giant cavity ranges from 1 µm to 15 µm (see at least paragraph 0006; wherein a complicated optical system is typically required to couple a 1060 nm DFB laser into an SHG waveguide at least because the 1060 nm DFB laser has a large divergence angle and an asymmetric optical profile). As per claim 16, Laflaquiere does not explicitly mention wherein along the direction perpendicular to the at least two active layers, a cavity length of the giant cavity ranges from 1 µm to 15 µm. However Cho does disclose: wherein along the direction perpendicular to the at least two active layers, a cavity length of the giant cavity ranges from 1 µm to 15 µm (see at least paragraph 0006; wherein a complicated optical system is typically required to couple a 1060 nm DFB laser into an SHG waveguide at least because the 1060 nm DFB laser has a large divergence angle and an asymmetric optical profile). Therefore it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings as in Cho with the teachings as in Laflaquiere. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve polarization characteristics to increase efficiency of coupling with the periodically poled (PP) structure of the non-linear optical element 130, see Cho paragraph 0041. As per claim 18, Laflaquiere does not explicitly mention wherein along a direction perpendicular to the at least two active layers, a cavity length of the giant cavity ranges from 1 µm to 15 µm. However Cho does disclose: wherein along a direction perpendicular to the at least two active layers, a cavity length of the giant cavity ranges from 1 µm to 15 µm (see at least paragraph 0006; wherein a complicated optical system is typically required to couple a 1060 nm DFB laser into an SHG waveguide at least because the 1060 nm DFB laser has a large divergence angle and an asymmetric optical profile). Therefore it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings as in Cho with the teachings as in Laflaquiere. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve polarization characteristics to increase efficiency of coupling with the periodically poled (PP) structure of the non-linear optical element 130, see Cho paragraph 0041.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Laflaquiere et al. (US 11,418,006) in view of Lin et al. (WO2022/110909). As per claim 8, Laflaquiere does not explicitly mention wherein the at least one current confinement layer comprises an oxide layer, and the oxide layer is made of epitaxially grown aluminum gallium arsenide (AIGaAs) with high aluminum (AI) content, wherein an oxidized region on an outer side of the oxide layer forms an insulated aluminum oxide film, and an unoxidized region of the oxide layer forms the light- emitting region for effective current injection. However Lin does disclose: wherein the at least one current confinement layer comprises an oxide layer, and the oxide layer is made of epitaxially grown aluminum gallium arsenide (AIGaAs) with high aluminum (AI) content, wherein an oxidized region on an outer side of the oxide layer forms an insulated aluminum oxide film, and an unoxidized region of the oxide layer forms the light- emitting region for effective current injection (see at least paragraph 0153; wherein the material of the current-limiting layer in the insulating region is oxide; The material of the current-limiting layer in the conductive region is a semiconductor compound. Specifically, the current-limiting layer is formed by oxidizing the semiconductor compound; the oxidized semiconductor compound forms the insulating region, while the non-oxidized semiconductor compound forms the conductive region. The method of forming the current-limiting layer by oxidizing semiconductor compounds not only effectively ensures the surface flatness of the formed current-limiting layer to achieve a smooth interface, but also effectively reduces the internal stress of the formed current-limiting layer to lessen its impact on light. Additionally, this method can form the current-limiting layer without changing the chamber, effectively ensuring the quality of the film layer. For example, in some embodiments, the material of the current-limiting layer in the conductive region is aluminum gallium arsenic (Al 1-xGa xAs)； The material of the current-limiting layer in the insulating region is aluminum oxide (Al 2O 3) or gallium alumina). Therefore it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings as in Lin with the teachings as in Laflaquiere. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve the issue of reduced luminescence intensity caused by light absorption while ensuring high conductivity, see Lin paragraph 0003.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Laflaquiere et al. (US 11,418,006), in view of Lin et al. (WO2022/110909), and further in view of Cho et al. (USPGPub 2008/0031289). As per claim 17, Laflaquiere and Lin do not explicitly mention wherein along a direction perpendicular to the at least two active layers, a cavity length of the giant cavity ranges from 1 µm to 15 µm. However Cho does disclose: wherein along a direction perpendicular to the at least two active layers, a cavity length of the giant cavity ranges from 1 µm to 15 µm (see at least paragraph 0006; wherein a complicated optical system is typically required to couple a 1060 nm DFB laser into an SHG waveguide at least because the 1060 nm DFB laser has a large divergence angle and an asymmetric optical profile). Therefore it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings as in Cho with the teachings as in Laflaquiere and Lin. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve polarization characteristics to increase efficiency of coupling with the periodically poled (PP) structure of the non-linear optical element 130, see Cho paragraph 0041.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 4 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. The prior art fails to explicitly teach wherein along a direction from the multi-junction active region to the light reservoir, the anti- reflection layer comprises at least one of: a first anti-reflection interface which is located between the light reservoir and the multi-junction active region at least two active layers and is an interface going from a low refractive index to a high refractive index, wherein an optical path length between the first anti-reflection interface and a nearest wave antinode of a standing-wave optical field is less than one-tenth of a lasing wavelength; or a second anti-reflection interface which is located between the light reservoir and the multi-junction active region at least two active layers and is an interface going from a high refractive index to a low refractive index, wherein an optical path length between the second anti-reflection interface and a nearest wave node of the standing-wave optical field is less than one-tenth of the lasing wavelength. Claims 5 and 13-14 are also objected to by virtue of their dependency.
Conclusion
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/MAHMOUD S ISMAIL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3662
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