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 .
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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 1 and 19: There is insufficient antecedent basis for “the dielectric material”. For the purpose of examination, this limitation is interpreted as “a dielectric material”.
Also regarding claims 1 and 19: the claimed “portion of a volume” is unclear. It would clearer to simply remove “a portion of” because it appears to mean that the ridge extends along the depth axis into a volume between the first layer and the second layer. For the purpose of examination, this limitation is interpreted as “a volume”, rather than “a portion of a volume”.
Regarding claims 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 12, 16, 17, and 19: “the segment” is used in two different ways, creating confusion and inconsistency in the claims. Claim 1 recites the limitation “wherein at least one of the first layer and the second layer includes a segment of the dielectric material separating two portions of its respective doped region across the lateral axis to separate the first optical wave from the second optical wave.” Does this mean that one of the following is true (INTERPRETATION 1): (a) the first layer includes a segment of the dielectric material separating two portions of the first doped region, or (b) the second layer includes a segment of dielectric material separating two portions of the second doped region, or (c) a segment of the dielectric material separates two portions of each of the first and the second doped regions? Or alternatively should it be interpreted as (INTERPRETATION 2): (a) same as (a) of interpretation 1, (b) same as (b) of interpretation 1, or (c*) the first layer includes a first segment of the dielectric material separating two portions of the first doped region and the second layer includes a second segment of the dielectric material separating two portions of the second doped region? If interpretation 1 is applied, this causes claims 9 and 10 to be confusing because claim 9 recites “the first layer and the second layer each include a segment of the dielectric material separating two portions of its respective doped region across the lateral axis”, corresponding to interpretation 2, that each layer includes its own segment. If interpretation 2 is applied, this causes claims 3, 4, 5, 8, 12, 16, and 17 to have an antecedent basis problem because claim 1 would then optionally define two segments. For the purpose of examination, for reading claims 9 and 10, claim 1 is interpreted according to interpretation 1, but for reading claims 3, 4, 5, 8, 12, 16, and 17, claim 1 is interpreted according to interpretation 2. For the purpose of examination, claim 19 is interpreted according to interpretation 2.
Regarding claims 2 and 20: Claims 2 and 20 recite “a third layer, between at least a portion of the volume between the first layer and the second layer”. It is unclear whether this is specifically referring to the portion of the volume defined in claim 1 that has the ridge or if it’s a different portion or volume. For the purpose of examination, this is interpreted as “a third layer, between the first layer and the second layer, comprising the dielectric material”.
Regarding claim 4: “the portion of the second doped region on the first side of the segment of the dielectric material extends further along the lateral axis from the segment of the dielectric material than the portion of the first doped region on the first side of the segment of the dielectric material” is confusing because the term “portion” is unclear in the claim. Claim 4 depends on claim 3, which says that, for example, the second electrode contacts a portion of the second doped region on the first side of the segment of the dielectric material. From this, it seems that the portion refers to the portion in contact with the second electrode, i.e. a contact region. For the purpose of examination, this portion is understood to correspond to each of the individual “waveguide core structures” shown in Figs. 2A-2I, although “waveguide core structure” would also be an unclear term to put into the claim because the core is understood to correspond to the light propagating region, and it is understood that the light is confined near the ridge portions.
Regarding claim 5: “the portion of the second doped region on the second side of the segment of the dielectric material extends further along the lateral axis from the segment of the dielectric material than the portion of the first doped region on the second side of the segment of the dielectric material” is also unclear because of the vagueness of the term “portion” and the apparent mismatch from the usage of the term in claim 3.
Regarding claims 2-18 and 20: Dependent claims 2-18 and 20 inherently contain all of the deficiencies of any base or intervening claims from which they depend.
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)(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.
Claims 1-2, 6-8, 11-15 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ogawa et al. (US 2020/0064548; hereinafter Ogawa).
Regarding claim 1: Ogawa disclosesAn integrated photonic device (Figs. 15, Mach-Zehnder optical modulator) configured to operate on optical waves, the integrated photonic device comprising: a substrate (Fig. 15, substrate 4) supporting structures formed in a plurality of layers of materials with respect to three mutually perpendicular axes comprising: a propagation axis (horizontal direction of Fig. 13) along which two or more of the optical waves propagate over a segment of the photonic device, a depth axis (vertical direction of Fig. 15) defining depths at which the plurality of layers are formed, and a lateral axis (vertical direction of Fig. 13, corresponding to the horizontal direction of Fig. 15) perpendicular to the propagation axis and perpendicular to the depth axis; and an optical phase shifting structure (Figs. 13 and 15, phase modulators 81a-81b) for phase shifting a first optical wave and a second optical wave of the two or more optical waves comprising: a first layer (Fig. 15, layer containing regions 10a and 10b), above the substrate, comprising a first semiconductor material including a first doped region (Fig. 15, region from 10a-10b, including the portion of 32 disposed between 10a and 10b; see paragraph 0056) that exhibits a first conductivity type (see paragraph 0130), and a second layer (Fig. 15, layer containing regions 12a and 12b), above the substrate and separated from the first layer (Fig. 15 shows this), comprising a second semiconductor material including a second doped region (Fig. 15, region see paragraph 0059) that exhibits a second conductivity type opposite from the first conductivity type (see paragraph 0130); wherein at least one of the first layer or the second layer includes at least one ridge of its respective semiconductor material extending along the depth axis into a portion of a volume between the first layer and the second layer (see Fig. 11 and paragraphs 0135 and paragraph 0041; the structure of Fig. 15 is disclosed with the regions 10 and 12 each having ridges of its respective semiconductor material extending along the depth axis into a portion of a volume between the first layer and the second layer); and wherein at least one of the first layer or the second layer includes a segment of the dielectric material separating two portions of its respective doped region across the lateral axis to separate the first optical wave from the second optical wave (Fig. 15, portion of lower clad 32 between regions 10a and 10b; paragraph 0071 discloses lower clad 32 to be silica, a dielectric material; Fig. 15 thus shows that a segment of the dielectric material separating two portions of its respective doped region across the lateral axis to separate the first optical wave, of arm 81a of the MZI, from the second optical wave, of arm 81b of the MZI).
Regarding claim 2: Ogawa disclosesThe integrated photonic device of claim 1 (as applied above), further comprising a third layer (Fig. 15, layer containing regions 14a, 14b, and 36; additionally, Fig. 11, regions 74 and 76), between at least a portion of the volume between the first layer and the second layer, comprising the dielectric material (paragraph 0071 discloses region 36 to be silica, the dielectric material, paragraph 0109 discloses region 74 to be silica, paragraphs 0106-0107 disclose that while Fig. 11 shows region 14B filling the plane, it can be etched outside of the light guiding region; Fig. 15 shows region 36 filling the remainder of the layer where region 14 has been etched away).
Regarding claim 6: Ogawa disclosesThe integrated photonic device of claim 2 (as applied above), further comprising a fourth layer (Fig. 15, layer 32, excluding the portion that protrudes between regions 10a and 10b), between the substrate and the first layer, comprising the dielectric material (see paragraph 0071).
Regarding claim 7: Ogawa disclosesThe integrated photonic device of claim 6 (as applied above), wherein the fourth layer comprises a buried oxide layer of a silicon on insulator (SOI) integrated circuit (paragraph 0109 and paragraph 0096; the “SOI layer” is positioned above a buried oxide layer, as shown in Fig. 11).
Regarding claim 8: Ogawa disclosesThe integrated photonic device of claim 6 (as applied above), wherein the segment of the dielectric material contacts the fourth layer (Fig. 15 shows that the segment and the fourth layer form a contiguous region 32; therefore the segment contacts the fourth layer).
Regarding claim 11: Ogawa disclosesThe integrated photonic device of claim 6 (as applied above), further comprising a fifth layer, above both the first layer and the second layer, comprising the dielectric material (Fig. 15, upper clad 34 is silica, the dielectric material, see paragraph 0071).
Regarding claim 12: Ogawa disclosesThe integrated photonic device of claim 1 (as applied above), wherein the segment of the dielectric material separates a first ridge of the first semiconductor material of the first layer and a second ridge of the first semiconductor material of the first layer (see Figs. 11 and 15, the combination of Fig. 15 with the third embodiment, as explicitly disclosed in paragraph 0135, would necessarily have this feature), the first ridge extends along the propagation axis to provide a first waveguide section to guide the optical spatial mode of the first optical wave (see paragraphs 0120, 0127, and 0135; Fig. 11, ridge 70 of region 10a in Fig. 15), and the second ridge extends along the propagation axis to provide a second waveguide section to guide the optical spatial mode of the second optical wave (see paragraphs 0120, 0127, and 0135; Fig. 11, ridge 70 of region 10b in Fig. 15).
Regarding claim 13: Ogawa disclosesThe integrated optical device of claim 12 (as applied above), wherein the first waveguide section and the second waveguide section are configured to form portions of respective arms of an interferometric structure (best shown in Fig. 13).
Regarding claim 14: Ogawa disclosesThe integrated photonic device of claim 13 (as applied above), wherein the interferometric structure comprises at least a portion of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (see paragraph 0127).
Regarding claim 15: Ogawa disclosesThe integrated photonic device of claim 12 (as applied above), wherein each of the first waveguide section and the second waveguide section comprises a semiconductor-insulator-semiconductor capacitor (SISCAP) (Fig. 15 and 11 have the claimed structure, with two layers of semiconductor material, regions 10 and 12, on either side of insulator materials, regions 14, 36, 74, and 76).
Regarding claim 18: Ogawa disclosesThe integrated photonic device of claim 1 (as applied above), wherein different portions of the first doped region have different concentrations of dopant, and different portions of the second doped region have different concentrations of dopant (see paragraph 0059).
Claims 1-3, 12 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Takahashi et al. (US 2019/0384135; hereinafter Takahashi).
Regarding claim 1: Takahashi disclosesAn integrated photonic device (Fig. 12, Mach-Zehnder interferometer-type optical intensity modulation device 50, which is disclosed to be made with the electro-optic modulator of the present invention, i.e. any of the disclosed embodiments of the electro-optic modulators of the claimed invention, wherein the embodiment of the electro-optic modulator of Fig. 7 is relied on in the following rejections) configured to operate on optical waves, the integrated photonic device comprising: a substrate (Fig. 7, substrate 1) supporting structures formed in a plurality of layers of materials with respect to three mutually perpendicular axes comprising: a propagation axis (Fig. 12, horizontal direction) along which two or more of the optical waves propagate over a segment of the photonic device, a depth axis (Fig. 7, vertical direction) defining depths at which the plurality of layers are formed, and a lateral axis (vertical direction of Fig. 12, corresponding to the horizontal direction of Fig. 7) perpendicular to the propagation axis and perpendicular to the depth axis; and an optical phase shifting structure (see paragraph 0076) for phase shifting a first optical wave and a second optical wave of the two or more optical waves comprising: a first layer (Fig. 7, layer containing n-type regions 7 and 5’), above the substrate, comprising a first semiconductor material including a first doped region (Fig. 7, second semiconductor layer 5’) that exhibits a first conductivity type (Fig. 7 shows that this layer exhibits n-type conductivity), and a second layer (Fig. 7, layer containing p-type regions 4’ and 6), above the substrate and separated from the first layer (Fig. 7 shows this), comprising a second semiconductor material including a second doped region (Fig. 7, first semiconductor layer 4’) that exhibits a second conductivity type opposite from the first conductivity type (Fig. 7 shows that this layer exhibits p-type conductivity); wherein at least one of the first layer or the second layer includes at least one ridge of its respective semiconductor material extending along the depth axis into a portion of a volume between the first layer and the second layer (Fig. 7, ridge of first semiconductor layer 4’); and wherein at least one of the first layer or the second layer includes a segment of the dielectric material separating two portions of its respective doped region across the lateral axis to separate the first optical wave from the second optical wave (Fig. 7 shows segments of dielectric material on both the left side of electrode 9 and the right side of electrode 10; Fig. 12 shows that two such phase shifters 56 are included in the device, with separation between the two; therefore, it is understood that either the segment of the dielectric material on the segment of dielectric material on the right of Fig. 7 meets this claim limitation, depending on the relative orientation of these structures when assembled according to Fig. 12).
Regarding claim 2: Takahashi disclosesThe integrated photonic device of claim 1 (as applied above), further comprising a third layer (Fig. 7, layer including dielectric layer 11 and the surrounding cladding material 8), between at least a portion of the volume between the first layer and the second layer, comprising the dielectric material (since the segment of dielectric material and a portion of the third layer are both part of the cladding 8, it is understood that they both comprise the dielectric material).
Regarding claim 3: Takahashi disclosesThe integrated photonic device of claim 2 (as applied above), further comprising: a first electrode contacting a portion of the first doped region on a first side of the segment of the dielectric material (Fig. 7, electrode 10); a second electrode contacting a portion of the second doped region on the first side of the segment of the dielectric material (Fig. 7, electrode 9); a third electrode contacting a portion of the first doped region on a second side of the segment of the dielectric material (since Fig. 12 shows two phase shifters 56, and as described above, a segment of dielectric material, as claimed, is present on either side of the phase shifter shown in Fig. 7, the electrode 10 of the second phase shifter 56 meets this limitation); and a fourth electrode contacting a portion of the second doped region on the second side of the segment of the dielectric material (since Fig. 12 shows two phase shifters 56, and as described above, a segment of dielectric material, as claimed, is present on either side of the phase shifter shown in Fig. 7, the electrode 9 of the second phase shifter 56 meets this limitation).
Regarding claim 12: Takahashi disclosesThe integrated photonic device of claim 1 (as applied above), wherein the segment of the dielectric material separates a first ridge of the first semiconductor material of the first layer and a second ridge of the first semiconductor material of the first layer (see Figs. 7 and 12, assembling the phase shifters of Fig. 7 into the Mach-Zehnder interferometer arms of Fig. 12 would necessarily provide this feature, since the dielectric material surrounds each ridge on the left and right side, as shown in Fig. 7), the first ridge extends along the propagation axis to provide a first waveguide section to guide the optical spatial mode of the first optical wave (see paragraph 0076), and the second ridge extends along the propagation axis to provide a second waveguide section to guide the optical spatial mode of the second optical wave (see paragraph 0076).
Regarding claim 15: Takahashi disclosesThe integrated photonic device of claim 12 (as applied above), wherein each of the first waveguide section and the second waveguide section comprises a semiconductor-insulator-semiconductor capacitor (SISCAP) (see paragraph 0058).
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.
Claims 16-17 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ogawa et al. (US 2020/0064548; hereinafter Ogawa).
Regarding claim 16: Ogawa discloses or suggests all of the limitations of claim(s) 1 as applied above, but does not disclose that a size of the segment of the dielectric material separating two portions of its respective doped region across the lateral axis is between about 1 micron to 50 microns. However, Ogawa does teach a suggested distance between the central point of the contact regions 28 and 30 and the low-refractive-index layer 14 to be set in a suitable range between 1 and 10 microns in the embodiment of Fig. 1, and for an equivalent gap to be provided between the ribs and the contact regions in the embodiment of Fig. 11 (see paragraphs 0079 and 0104). In the embodiment of Ogawa Fig. 15 using the waveguide structure of Fig. 11, as explicitly taught by Ogawa, the distance between the two ridges would be twice the distance between the contact region 30 and one of the ribs (see Fig. 15). This also sets an upper bound on the size of the segment of the dielectric material separating two portions of the respective doped region (Fig. 15, regions 10a and 10b), since the ribs of 10 are disclosed to be located directly below the ribs of 12. Therefore, in making the device according to the suggestions of Ogawa, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to make the device wherein a size of the segment of the dielectric material separating two portions of its respective doped region across the lateral axis is between about 1 micron to 50 microns, in order to achieve the reduction in a driving voltage for refractive index modulation (see paragraph 0104).
Regarding claim 17: Modified Ogawa teaches the integrated photonic device of claim 16, as applied above. Likewise, it would have also been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to make the device wherein a size of the segment of the dielectric material separating two portions of its respective doped region across the lateral axis is between about 2 microns to 20 microns in order to achieve the reduction in a driving voltage for refractive index modulation (see paragraphs 0079 and 0104).
Regarding claim 19: The method for fabricating recited results in the structure of claim 1, which is anticipated by Ogawa, as explained in the rejection of claim 1 above. Since the method steps of claim 19 do not require any specific manufacture techniques, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the recited method steps of claim 19 to fabricate the device of claim 1 using conventional manufacturing techniques well known in the art.
Regarding claim 20: The method for fabricating recited results in the structure of claim 2, which anticipated by Ogawa, as explained in the rejection of claim 2 above. Since the method steps of claim 20 do not require any specific manufacture techniques, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the recited method steps of claim 20 to fabricate the device of claim 2 using conventional manufacturing techniques well known in the art.
Claims 4-6 and 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahashi et al. (US 2019/0384135; hereinafter Takahashi).
Regarding claim 4: Takahashi disclosesThe integrated photonic device of claim 3 (as applied above), wherein the first layer is above the second layer (Fig. 7 shows this).
While Takahashi fails to disclose that the portion of the second doped region on the first side of the segment of the dielectric material extends further along the lateral axis from the segment of the dielectric material than the portion of the first doped region on the first side of the segment on the dielectric material, there are a finite number of ways that the phase shifters of Takahashi Fig. 7 could be incorporated into the respective arms of the Mach-Zehnder interferometer of Fig. 12. Specifically, there are 4 possible configurations: 2 ways to place them side-by-side in the orientation shown in Fig. 7, and 2 ways to place them side-by-side with one of the phase shifters as a mirror image of the other. In 2 of these 4 configurations, the portion of the second doped region on the first side of the segment of the dielectric material would extend further along the lateral axis from the segment of the dielectric material. One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized the finite number of predictable solutions for assembling two phase shifters according to the embodiment of Fig. 7 on two arms of the Mach-Zehnder interferometer. Absent unexpected results, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to try each of the 4 configurations to yield a Mach-Zehnder interferometer suitable for modulating an optical signal, including a configuration wherein the portion of the second doped region on the first side of the segment of the dielectric material would extend further along the lateral axis from the segment of the dielectric material.
Regarding claim 5: Modified Takahashi teaches the integrated photonic device of claim 4, as applied above. Based on the 4 configurations outlined above, 1 of these configurations would also provide a structure “wherein the portion of the second doped region on the second side of the segment of the dielectric material extends further along the lateral axis from the segment of the dielectric material than the portion of the first doped region on the second side of the segment of the dielectric material”, as claimed. Absent unexpected results, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to try each of the 4 configurations to yield a Mach-Zehnder interferometer suitable for modulating an optical signal, including a configuration wherein the portion of the second doped region on the second side of the segment of the dielectric material extends further along the lateral axis from the segment of the dielectric material than the portion of the first doped region on the second side of the segment of the dielectric material.
Regarding claim 6: Takahashi disclosesThe integrated photonic device of claim 2 (as applied above), further comprising a fourth layer (Fig. 7, buried oxide layer 2), between the substrate and the first layer.
Takahashi fails to disclose that the fourth layer comprises the dielectric material. However, the buried oxide material and the clad layer 8 are both disclosed to be oxide materials (see paragraph 0031). It has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to choose a known oxide material suitable for use as cladding for the waveguiding structure, for both the clad layer 8 and the buried oxide layer.
Regarding claim 8: Modified Takahashi teaches the integrated photonic device of claim 6, as applied above. While Takahashi fails to disclose the segment of the dielectric material contacts the fourth layer, there are a finite number of ways that the phase shifters of Takahashi Fig. 7 could be incorporated into the respective arms of the Mach-Zehnder interferometer of Fig. 12. Specifically, there are 4 possible configurations: 2 ways to place them side-by-side in the orientation shown in Fig. 7, and 2 ways to place them side-by-side with one of the phase shifters as a mirror image of the other. In 3 of these 4 configurations, the right side of Fig. 7 including the segment of cladding layer 8 extending to the fourth layer, would be placed between the two arms of the Mach-Zehnder interferometer and the structure would meet this claim limitation. Absent unexpected results, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to try each of the 4 configurations to yield a Mach-Zehnder interferometer suitable for modulating an optical signal, including a configuration wherein the segment of dielectric material contacts the fourth layer.
Regarding claim 9: Modified Takahashi teachesThe integrated photonic device of claim 8 (as applied above), wherein the first layer and the second layer each include a segment of the dielectric material separating two portions of its respective doped region across the lateral axis to separate the peak of an optics spatial mode of the first optical wave from the peak of an optical spatial mode of the second optical wave (Fig. 7, portions of clad layer 8 are shown to be present on the left and right sides of the ridge of 4’, part of the second layer; portions of clad layer 8 are also shown to be on the left side of electrode 9 and the right side of electrode 10 within the first layer; therefore, when the device of Fig. 12 is assembled using the phase shifters of the embodiment of Fig. 7, the first layer and the second layer each would necessarily include a segment of the dielectric material separating two portions of its respective doped region across the lateral axis to separate the peak of an optics spatial mode of the first optical wave from the peak of an optical spatial mode of the second optical wave).
Regarding claim 10: Modified Takahashi teachesThe integrated photonic device of claim 9 (as applied above), wherein the segment of the first layer and the segment of the second layer each contact the third layer (Fig. 7 shows a continuous region of clad 8 which includes the segment in the first layer and the segment of the second layer each contacting the third layer).
Conclusion
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/KIRSTEN D. ENDRESEN/Examiner, Art Unit 2874
/THOMAS A HOLLWEG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2874
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