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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The prior art documents submitted by applicant in the Information Disclosure Statements filed on June 25, 2024 have all been considered and made of record (note the attached copies of form PTO-1449).
Drawings
Ten (10) sheets of drawings were filed on June 25, 20254.
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the control circuitry configured to apply a drive current to the silicon-based distributed feedback laser, as defined by claim 2, must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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 1-12 and 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 20; the claims recite a “silicon distributed feedback laser” in line 2 of claim 1 and in line 2 of claim 20, however silicon is an indirect band-gap material, and therefore, without specific teachings, the skilled person would not know how to manufacture a silicon distributed feedback laser. As described in the specification, the laser is formed of III-V materials in combination with the silicon (see paragraph 45) and thus is not a silicon distributed feedback laser as suggested by the phrase in question. Clarification is required. Based on the responses filed in parent Application 17/566,318, the examiner suggests changing “a silicon distributed feedback laser” in line 2 of claim 1 and in line 2 of claim 20 to – a silicon-based distributed feedback laser” to overcome this rejection. Please see the claim interpretation section below for additional discussion of this limitation.
Regarding claims 2-11; the claims recite the limitation “the silicon-based distributed feedback laser” in lines 2-3 of claim 2; lines 2-3 of claim 3; lines 2-3 of claim 4; lines 1-2 of claim 5; lines 1-2 of claim 6; lines 1-2 of claim 7; lines 2-3 of claim 8; lines 3, 4, and 5 of claim 9; lines 7-8 of claim 10; and line 2 of claim 11. This limitation lacks proper antecedent basis. The examiner suggests changing – silicon distributed feedback laser—in line 2 of claim 1 to – silicon-based distributed feedback laser— to provide proper antecedent basis.
Regarding claims 2-12; dependent claims inherently contain the deficiencies of any base and/or intervening claims from which they depend.
Claim Interpretation
Claims of the present application define “a silicon distributed feedback laser” or “a silicon-based distributed feedback laser”. Silicon is an indirect band-gap material, and therefore, without specific teachings or further description, the skilled person would not know how to manufacture a silicon-based distributed feedback laser.
As explained in the abstract of the present application (emphasis added) the invention is directed to, “[a] symmetric distributed feedback (DFB) laser that is integrated in a silicon based photonic integrated circuit can output light from both sides of the symmetric DFB laser onto the waveguides.”
Paragraphs 40 and 41 of the present specification read (emphasis added):
[0040] In some example embodiments, the PIC 820 includes silicon on insulator (SOI) or silicon based (e.g., silicon nitride (SiN)) devices, or may comprise devices formed from both silicon and a non-silicon material. Said non-silicon material (alternatively referred to as “heterogeneous material”) may comprise one of III-V material, magneto-optic (MO) material, or crystal substrate material. III-V semiconductors have elements that are found in group III and group V of the periodic table (e.g., Indium Gallium Arsenide Phosphide (InGaAsP), Gallium Indium Arsenide Nitride (GainAsN)). The carrier dispersion effects of III-V-based materials may be significantly higher than in silicon-based materials, as electron speed in III-V semiconductors is much faster than that in silicon. In addition, III-V materials have a direct bandgap, which enables efficient creation of light from electrical pumping. Thus, III-V semiconductor materials enable photonic operations with an increased efficiency over silicon for both generating light and modulating the refractive index of light. Thus, III-V semiconductor materials enable photonic operation with an increased efficiency at generating light from electricity and converting light back into electricity.
[0041] The low optical loss and high quality oxides of silicon are thus combined with the electro-optic efficiency of III-V semiconductors in the heterogeneous optical devices described below; in embodiments of the disclosure, said heterogeneous devices utilize low loss heterogeneous optical waveguide transitions between the devices' heterogeneous and silicon-only waveguides.
Therefore, as understood by the examiner, the PIC is a silicon-based PIC and the DFB laser is a III-V material laser that is integrated with the silicon-based PIC by attaching the III-V material DFB laser to the silicon-based PIC. This interpretation is also in agreement with Figure 9B of the present application. As illustrated in Figure 9B (reproduced below) the present application, the laser is formed of a III-V structure that is attached to an SOI substrate.
Thus, for the purpose of examination, a “silicon-based distributed feedback laser” is interpreted to mean a III-V distributed feedback laser attached to a silicon-based PIC.
Inventorship
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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 1-5 and 8-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Koch (US 2011/0157670 A1) in view of Shubin et al. (US 2017/0294760 A1), hereafter Shubin, and Kim et al. (US 2017/0269298 A1), hereafter Kim.
Regarding claims 1 and 8; Koch discloses a photonic integrated circuit (see Figures 2A, 2B, and 4; see paragraphs 26 and 29 and claim 12 of Koch, the circuit elements are formed on a same device chip) comprising:
a distributed feedback laser (symmetric distributed feedback, DFB, laser 202, 401, 402, 403, 404; see paragraphs 19-20 and Figures 2A-2B and 4) comprising a first output side (front facet 204; first output side, see annotated Figure 4 below) and a second output side (rear facet 208; second output side, see annotated Figure 4 below) that is opposite of the first output side (204);
a plurality of waveguides (see annotated Figures 2A, 2B and 4 below) comprising a first waveguide (first waveguide) to receive a first light beam from the first output side (204, first output side) and a second waveguide (second waveguide) to receive a second light beam from the second output side (208, second output side);
a plurality of modulators (206, 210, 410, 412) comprising a first modulator (206, 412) to modulate the first light beam and a second modulator (210, 410) to modulate the second light beam; and
a plurality of output ports comprising a first output port (first output port) to output the modulated first light beam on a first lane (first lane) and a second output port (second output port) to output the modulated second light beam on a second lane (second lane) separate from the first lane;
wherein the distributed feedback laser is a symmetric distributed feedback laser (see paragraph 19) configured to generate laser light and output a first half of the laser light out the first output side (front facet) and output a second half of the laser light out the second output side (rear facet).
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Koch does not specifically state that the photonic integrated circuit and distributed feedback laser are silicon-based, or that the plurality of waveguides, combiner and output waveguide are silicon. However, Koch teaches that a plurality of waveguides, a combiner, and an output waveguide may be formed in a silicon-based photonic integrated circuit with SOI (i.e. silicon-on-insulator) technology (see paragraph 26). Shubin teaches (see paragraph 34 and Figure 1) that a III-V laser (optical gain chip 109; see Figure 1) may be integrated with an SOI photonic chip (SOI CHIP 130), wherein a standard III-V DFB laser may be used for laser integration by attaching the laser to a silicon-based photonic integrated circuit chip, wherein the chip includes silicon-based optical waveguides (134) and other silicon-based optical components (136, 137). Kim teaches (see paragraph 5) that a light source for a silicon optical device may be based on a III-V compound semiconductor light source, wherein integration of a silicon photonics-based light source may be realized by a hybrid laser in which a III-V compound DFB laser (DFB LD) is bonded on an SOI substrate by a wafer bonding technique or mounted on a SOI-based silicon photonics chip.
Thus, before the effective filing date of the present invention, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to form the invention of Koch et al. with a silicon-based photonic integrated circuit chip, a silicon-based distributed feedback laser (i.e. an III-V DFB laser integrated on the SOI photonic integrated circuit chip substrate), a plurality of silicon waveguides, a silicon combiner, and a silicon output waveguide, for the purpose of forming the photonic integrated circuit, DFB laser, plurality of waveguides, combiner, and output waveguide from materials known to be used to form these elements in the prior art, wherein the selection of these known materials would not produce any novel or unexpected results, since these materials were known to be used for this purpose in the prior art and one of ordinary skill could have combined the elements by known coupling methods with no change in their respective functions to yield predictable results (KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007)), and since 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. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Regarding claim 2; Koch, Shubin, and Kim teach and/or suggest the silicon-based photonic integrated circuit of claim 1 as applied above. Koch fails to specifically discloses control circuitry configured to apply a drive current to the silicon-based distributed feedback laser. The examiner takes Official notice that control circuity, including an electrode, must inherently be present to apply a drive current to the silicon-based distributed feedback laser for the laser to function. Before the effective filing date of the present invention, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to configure the control circuitry to apply a drive current to the silicon-based distributed feedback laser, since the silicon-based distributed feedback laser inherently requires a drive signal for operation, and configuration of control circuitry to provide the drive signal is considered to be elementary in the art.
Regarding claim 3; Koch, Shubin, and Kim teach and/or suggest the silicon-based photonic integrated circuit of claim 1 as applied above, wherein the silicon-based photonic integrated circuit (see Figures 2A, 2B and 4) is fabricated, and the silicon-based distributed feedback laser (202, 401, 402, 403, 404), the plurality of silicon waveguides (see annotated Figures 2A, 2B and 4 above), and the silicon combiner (212, 414) are formed using a same silicon wafer (Koch discloses a photonic integrated circuit fabricated on a single modulator chip 200 in Figures 2A and 2B; the chip illustrated in Figure 4; see claim 12 of Koch).
Regarding claim 4; Koch further teaches that the second waveguide comprises a low optical loss bend to couple light from the silicon-based distributed feedback laser to the second modulator (see Figures 2A, 2B, and 4 of Koch annotated above, wherein the second waveguide includes low loss bend).
Regarding claim 5; Koch does not teach or suggest reflectivity coatings on the first and second output sides of the distributed feedback laser, and therefore a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the present invention, would have found obvious to form the silicon-based distributed feedback laser that does not comprise reflectivity coatings on the first output side and the second output side.
Regarding claim 9; Koch, Shubin, and teach or suggest the silicon-based photonic integrated circuit of claim 1 as applied above, wherein the silicon-based photonic integrated circuit (see Figure 4 of Koch) is a wavelength division multiplexing based device that comprises a plurality of symmetric silicon-based distributed feedback lasers (401, 402, 403, 404 of Koch), each symmetric silicon-based distributed feedback laser configured to output light from opposite sides of the symmetric silicon-based distributed feedback laser (see Figure 4 of Koch).
Regarding claim 10; Koch further teaches wherein:
the plurality of silicon waveguides (first waveguides and second waveguides; see annotated Figures 2A, 2B, and 4 of Koch above) are configured to receive light beams from the first output side and the second output side of each of the symmetric silicon-based distributed feedback lasers (lasers, 202, 401, 402, 403, 404);
the plurality of modulators (206, 210, 412, 410) are configured to modulate the light beams; and
the plurality of output ports (see annotated Figures 2A, 2B and 4 above) are configured to output the modulated light on each of a plurality of lanes (see annotated Figures 2A, 2B, and 4 above), such that each symmetric silicon-based distributed feedback laser drives two lanes (a first lane and a second lane; see annotated Figures 2A, 2B, and 4 of Koch above).
Regarding claim 11; Koch further teaches wherein the plurality of symmetric silicon-based distributed feedback lasers (401, 402, 403, 404; see Figure 4) comprises:
a first fixed-wavelength symmetric silicon-based distributed feedback laser (401) emitting light at a first wavelength (λ1); and
a second fixed-wavelength symmetric silicon-based distributed feedback laser (402) emitting light at a second wavelength (λ2) different from the first wavelength (λ1).
Regarding claim 12; Koch further discloses that the laser, waveguides and modulators form a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (see the abstract; see Figures 2A, 2B and 4; see paragraphs 2, 20-22, and 25) wherein the modulated first light beam is out of phase with the modulated second light beam (i.e. a phase shift is applied to one or both arms to a desired interference effect that occurs when the pashes are out of phase).
Regarding claim 13; Koch, Shubin, and Kim, as applied to claim 1 above, teach or suggest a method for generating light in a silicon-based photonic integrated circuit (see the rejection of claim 1 above) comprising:
generating, by a silicon-based distributed feedback laser (202, 401, 402, 403, 404 or Koch) in the silicon-based photonic integrated circuit (see Figures 2A, 2B and 4 of Koch), first light beam and a second light beam;
outputting the first light beam from a first output side (front facet) of the silicon-based distributed feedback laser and outputting the second light beam from a second output side (rear facet) of the silicon-based distributed feedback laser, the first output side and the second output side being opposite sides of the silicon-based distributed feedback laser (see Figures 2A, 2B and 4 of Koch);
receiving the first light beam using a first waveguide in the silicon-based photonic integrated circuit (see Figures 2A, 2B and 3 annotated above);
receiving the second light beam using a second waveguide in the silicon-based photonic integrated circuit (see Figures 2A, 2B and 3 annotated above);
modulating the first light beam using a first modulator (206, 412);
modulating the second light beam using a second modulator (210, 410);
outputting the modulated first light beam on a first lane using a first output port (see annotated Figures 2A, 2B, and 4 above); and
outputting the modulated second light beam on a second lane, separate from the first lane, using a second output port (see annotated Figures 2A, 2B, and 4 above).
Regarding claim 14; Koch further teaches that the second waveguide comprises a low optical loss bend to couple light from the silicon-based distributed feedback laser to the second modulator (see Figures 2A, 2B, and 4 of Koch annotated above, wherein the second waveguide includes low loss bend).
Regarding claim 15; Koch teaches wherein the distributed feedback laser is a symmetric distributed feedback laser (see paragraph 19), and the generating of the first light beam and the second light beam comprises:
generating laser light (the lasers 202, 401, 402, 403, 404 generate laser light; see Figures 2A, 2B, and 4 of Koch);
outputting a first half of the laser light out the first output side (see annotated Figures 2A, 2B and 4 above); and
outputting a second half of the laser light out of the second output side (see annotated Figures 2A, 2B and 4 above).
Regarding claims 16-18; Koch teaches that the silicon-based photonic integrated circuit is a wavelength division multiplexing based device that comprises a plurality of symmetric silicon-based distributed feedback lasers (see Figure 4), and the method further comprises, for each symmetric silicon-based distributed feedback laser (401, 402, 403, 404):
generating a respective first light beam (λ1, λ2, λ3, λ4 in first waveguides; see annotated Figure 4 above) and a respective second light beam (λ1, λ2, λ3, λ4 in second waveguides; see annotated Figure 4 above); and
outputting the first light beam from a first output side of the symmetric silicon-based distributed feedback laser (401, 402, 403, 404) and outputting the second light beam from a second output side of the symmetric silicon-based distributed feedback laser (401, 402, 403, 404), the first output side and the second output side being opposite sides of the symmetric silicon-based distributed feedback laser (see Figure 4 of Koch);
receiving each first light beam and each second light beam using a respective waveguide (first and second waveguides, respectively; see annotated Figure 4 of Koch above) in the silicon-based photonic integrated circuit;
modulating each first light beam and each second light beam using a respective modulator (412, 410); and
outputting each modulated first light beam on a respective lane (first lane and second lane, respectively; see annotated Figure 4 above), separate from each other respective lane, using a respective output port;
wherein the generating of a respective first light beam and a respective second light beam for each symmetric silicon-based distributed feedback laser (401, 402, 403, 404) comprises:
generating light at a first wavelength (λ1) using a first fixed-wavelength symmetric silicon-based distributed feedback laser (401); and
generating light at a second wavelength (λ2), different from the first wavelength (λ1), using a second fixed-wavelength symmetric silicon-based distributed feedback laser (402).
Regarding claim 19; Koch further discloses that the laser, waveguides and modulators form a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (see the abstract; see Figures 2A, 2B and 4; see paragraphs 2, 20-22, and 25) wherein the modulated first light beam is out of phase with the modulated second light beam (i.e. a phase shift is applied to one or both arms to a desired interference effect that occurs when the pashes are out of phase).
Claims 6 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Koch (US 2011/0157670 A1) in view of Shubin et al. (US 2017/0294760 A1) and Kim et al. (US 2017/0269298 A1), and in further view of Tao et al. (US 2021/0273409 A1).
Regarding claims 6 and 7; Koch, Shubin et la., and Kim et al. teach or suggest teaches that the device is a silicon based device on which the DFB laser (202, 401, 402, 403, 404), waveguides (see Figures 2A, 2B and 4), phase modulators (206, 210, 410, 412), and combiner (212, 414) are all formed on a same chip (see paragraphs 26 and 29; see Figures 2A, 2B and 4; see claim 12 of Koch et al.), wherein the modulators maybe III-V based or silicon based, but does not specifically teach that the silicon-based photonic integrated circuit is formed using a silicon layer and a III-V layer, wherein silicon-based distributed feedback laser comprises one or more gratings, wherein the one or more gratings are formed in the III-V layer and wherein the III-V layer having the one or more gratings is bonded to the silicon layer of the silicon-based photonic integrated circuit.
Tao et al. teaches that distributed feedback (DFB) lasers may include III-V materials on SOI (see paragraphs 32-34; see Figure 2), and comprise one or more gratings (grating region 204; see paragraphs 32-34), wherein the one or more gratings (204) are formed in the III-V layer (see paragraphs 32-34; the gratings are formed in a III-V semiconductor material layer) and wherein the III-V layer having the one or more gratings (204) is bonded to the silicon layer (silicon substrate 202; see paragraphs 33-37) of the silicon-based photonic integrated circuit (see Figures 2 and 3).
Thus, before the effective filing date of the present invention, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to form the device of Koch (see Figures 2A, 2B, and 4) as a silicon-based photonic integrated circuit is formed using a silicon layer and a III-V layer, wherein silicon-based distributed feedback laser comprises one or more gratings, wherein the one or more gratings are formed in the III-V layer and wherein the III-V layer having the one or more gratings is bonded to the silicon layer of the silicon-based photonic integrated circuit, since this was a known DFB laser structure in the prior art, and one of ordinary skill could have combined the elements by known coupling methods with no change in their respective functions to yield predictable results. KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Koch (US 2011/0157670 A1) in view of Shubin et al. (US 2017/0294760 A1) and Kim et al. (US 2017/0269298 A1), and in further view of Wu et al. (US 2021/0103199 A1), Day (US 6,278,168 B1), and Goh et al. (US 2012/0106888 A1).
Regarding claim 20; Koch, Shubin et al., and Kim et al. teach or suggest a silicon-based photonic integrated circuit as applied to claim 1 above, comprising:
a silicon distributed feedback laser (202, 401, 402, 403, 404; see Figures 2A, 2B, and 4 of Koch, annotated above) comprising a first output side and a second output side that is opposite of the first output side;
a plurality of silicon waveguides (first waveguides and second waveguides; see annotated Figures 2A, 2B and 4 above) comprising a first waveguide to receive a first light beam from the first output side and a second waveguide to receive a second light beam from the second output side.
Koch further teaches:
a silicon combiner (212, 414) to combine the first light beam from the first output side with the second light beam from the second output side into a combined light beam; and
a silicon output waveguide (output waveguide of 212 and 414) to output the combined light beam.
Koch, Shubin et al., and Kim et al. fail to disclose a heater to apply heat to the first waveguide to phase match the first light beam and the second light beam.
In the optical waveguide integrated circuit art, phase modulators are routinely formed by placing heaters proximate to sections of optical waveguides for the purpose of altering the refractive index of the optical waveguide to adjust the phase of light passing there-through. For example: Wu et al. (US 2021/0103199 A1) teaches that phase shifters may be realized by thermo-optic effect of silicon, wherein heater devices may be made more compact than electrical counterparts and are suitable or integration on a single chip (see paragraph 90) and Day (US 6,278,168 B1) teaches that phase modulators in silicon and silica based waveguide devices may be formed with a resistive heater (see column 1, lines 9-20). Furthermore, it’s known to form MZM/MZI devices with phase shifters formed by providing heaters and independent control of phase shifters in each arm of the MZM/MZI device, and to provide control circuits (control/driving circuits) to independently control the phase modulation of each arm (see paragraphs 15, 21, 96, 130-133 of Goh et al.).
Thus, before the effective filing date of the present invention, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to provide thermo-optic phase modulators as the phase modulators (206, 210, 410, 412) of Koch, by providing a heater adjacent the plurality of silicon waveguides in the location of the phase modulators taught by Koch, wherein the heater applies heat to phase match the first light beam and the second and the second light beam, the first light beam and the second light beam being out of phase from the silicon-based distributed feedback laser, wherein the heater is a first heater that is proximate to the first waveguide, further comprising a second heater that is proximate to the second waveguide (since a phase modulator is formed proximate each of the first and second waveguides; see Figures 2A, 2B and 3 of Koch) for the purpose of providing the Mach-Zehnder modulator structure of Koch with a heater to apply desired phase shifts and adjust the relative phases of light to obtain desired output results.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHELLE R CONNELLY whose telephone number is (571)272-2345. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM.
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/MICHELLE R CONNELLY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
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