DETAILED ACTION
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.
(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.
Claim(s) 1-7, 9, 10, 12-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by U.S. PGPub 2026/0018850 A1 by Liu et al.
Regarding claim 1, Liu teaches an apparatus (photonic circuit 3, Fig. 12) comprising: an electro-optic (EO) modulator (phase filter 29 comprising two tuners 37A, 37B further comprising a heater (electrical, ¶[0216] and/or piezoelectric actuator, [0140]-[0141]) integrated upon a substrate (20, as a part of the photonic circuit 3, Fig. 2E) and comprising an optical waveguide segment (7, 9) connected between two optical waveguide loop mirrors (first and second optical waveguide loop reflectors M1, M2; wherein at least one (M1) of the two optical waveguide loop mirrors comprises a Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) (WDM coupler 65, MZI phase modulator as in Fig. 14, ¶[0187]).
Regarding claim 2, Liu further teaches the optical waveguide segment and the two optical waveguide loop mirrors form a Fabry-Perot cavity (150, of a laser 1).
Regarding claim 3, Liu further teaches an input optical waveguide (WC5) connected to launch light into the Fabry-Perot cavity via one of the two optical waveguide loop mirrors; and an output optical waveguide (33) connected to output modulated light from the Fabry-Perot cavity via one of the two optical waveguide loop mirrors.
Regarding claim 4, Liu further teaches one (M1) of the two optical waveguide loop mirrors comprises at least one optical waveguide coupler (65) connected to a loop optical waveguide (as illustrated, Fig. 12).
Regarding claim 5, Liu further teaches the optical waveguide segment comprises an electrically tunable section (a section overlapping the ring filter, Fig. 12).
Regarding claims 6, 7, Liu further teaches another one of the two optical waveguide loop mirrors comprises another MZM, or another one of the two optical waveguide loop mirrors comprises a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) (multiple, identical optical gain devices may be implemented, Fig. 13).
Regarding claims 9, 10, Liu further teaches the MZM comprises a layer of ferro-electric material disposed over the substrate (the waveguide 7, 9 comprise lithium niobate, ¶[0072]).
Regarding claim 12, Liu further teaches the at least one optical waveguide coupler is a 2x2 optical coupler (Fig. 14).
Regarding claim 13, Liu further teaches the MZM comprises two optical waveguide arms connected between two optical waveguide couplers (Fig. 14), the at least one of the two optical waveguide loop mirrors further comprising a loop waveguide interconnecting two ports of one of the two optical waveguide couplers (e.g., M2 is connected to both the input port WC5 and the output port 33).
Regarding claim 14, Liu further teaches at least one of the optical waveguide couplers is a directional optical waveguide coupler (¶[0156]).
Regarding claim 15, Liu further teaches the EO modulator comprised a set of electrodes configured to electro-optically modulate light in the MZM (i.e., connected to the resistive heater, ¶[0216]).
Regarding claims 16, 17, Liu teaches an apparatus (3) comprising: an electro-optic (EO) modulator integrated upon a substrate (20) and comprising: comprises a layer of ferro-electric material disposed over the substrate (the waveguides 7, 9 comprise lithium niobate, ¶[0072]), an optical waveguide Fabry-Perot (FP) cavity (150, of a laser 1) formed, at least in part, in the ferro-electric layer and comprising two optical waveguide loop mirrors (M1, M2) and an optical waveguide segment (7, 9) connected therebetween, at least one of the two optical waveguide loop mirrors comprising an EO Mach-Zehnder modulator (phase filter 29 comprising two tuners 37A, 37B further comprising a heater (electrical, ¶[0216] and/or piezoelectric actuator, [0140]-[0141]).
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.
Claim(s) 8, 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. as applied to claim 7 above, and further in view of U.S. PGPub 2002/0149780 A1 by Trinh.
Regarding claim 8, Liu teaches the WDM coupler comprising the MZI but does not specify that the MZI further comprises a bias tuning section. Trinh teaches an optical apparatus comprising parallel MZI couplers (Fig. 9, 951, 952) that uses bias tuning to adjust the center operating point, i.e., so as to provide control of desired phase, and it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Liu’s invention by using a bias tuning section as suggested by Trinh for the same purpose.
Regarding claim 18, Liu teaches a method for modulating light, comprising: launching the light (via pump laser diode 5) into an optical waveguide Fabry-Perot (FP) cavity (150) comprising two optical waveguide loop mirrors (M1, M2) and an optical waveguide segment (7, 9) connected therebetween, at least one of the two optical waveguide loop mirrors comprising a Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) (65).
Liu teaches phase modulation of the MZI but does not specify applying a modulating electrical signal to the MZM to modulate a coupling of the light into the FP cavity. Trinh teaches an MZI (Fig. 2) comprising first and second waveguides (11, 12), first 33 and second 34 electrodes configured such that varying a bias voltage (i.e., an applied modulating electrical signal) applied to the first electrode 33 thereof effects a change in the optical path length of at least that portion of the first 11 and/or second 12 waveguides disposed intermediate the first 33 and second 34 electrodes, which determines how in, or out of phase, with respect to each other, light in the waveguides are. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Liu’s invention, by disposing electrodes adjacent to the waveguides as suggested by Trinh, for the purpose of controlling the phase in the waveguides by applying modulating electrical signals.
Regarding claim 19, Liu further teaches electro-optically or thermally tuning a refractive index in the optical waveguide segment to adjust a resonant wavelength of the FP cavity (via an intra-cavity optical filter 29).
Regarding claim 20, Liu further teaches using an electrically tunable Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) (65) in another one of the two optical waveguide loop mirrors to tune at least one of: coupling of the light into the FP cavity (from a pump laser diode 5 and to the waveguides 7, 9).
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. Liu teaches using a ferro-electric material such as lithium niobate to form the waveguide but not lithium tantalate and barium titanate. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use a material having properties, i.e., ferroelectric materials including lithium tantalate and barium titanate, best fitted for this application, 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 as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US9559487 discloses using waveguide loop mirrors as laser cavity reflectors.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLIE PENG whose telephone number is (571)272-2177. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM - 6PM.
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/CHARLIE Y PENG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
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