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 .
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 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Larsen et al. (US 2018/0101139, hereinafter “Larsen”).
Claim 1: Larsen discloses an atomic oscillator (Fig.4) comprising a first laser device (152, 156, 160) configured to apply a first laser light (OPTB) from a plurality of directions (via 166, the beam is provided to cell 60 in a first direction via 168, then in a second direction on an opposite side of 60 via reflector 172) to a glass cell (60, which is a glass cell; see [0026]) in which alkali metal atoms are enclosed (see [0026], where alkali metal 58 is enclosed) and a second laser device (154, 158, 162) configured to apply a second laser light (OPTA) to the glass cell (60), wherein the first laser light from one of the directions and the second laser light are made to enter the glass cell through a same optical path (both laser lights are combined via 166 and enter in the same path to 60; the examiner notes that both laser lights also enter from the second path after being reflected, but the claim scope does not preclude such a functionality).
Claim 7: Larsen discloses wherein the first laser light from the one direction and the second laser light perpendicularly are made to enter a plane of the glass cell through the same optical path (see Fig.4, which shows the combined laser light entering perpendicularly to the cell 60 in the same optical path).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-6 and 8 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art does not disclose the following limitations within the context of the claims:
“wherein an optical element configured to not transmit the first laser light but transmit the second laser light toward the optical detector is placed on an optical path of the transmission light” (claim 2);
“a wave synthesizing unit configured to make part of the first laser light and the second laser light enter from mutually different optical paths, reflect the part of first laser light and transmit the second laser light, thereby synthesizing as the first laser light from the one direction and the second laser light in the same optical path” (claim 4);
“a branching unit configured to branch the first laser light emitted by the first laser device into a plurality of the first laser lights made to enter the glass cell from the plurality of directions; and a synthesizing unit configured to make one of the first laser lights obtained by branching and the second laser light enter from mutually different optical paths, reflect the one first laser lights and transmit the second laser light, thereby synthesizing as the first laser light from the one direction and the second laser light in the same optical path” (claim 5);
“a synthesizing unit configured to branch the first laser light emitted by the first laser device into a plurality of the first laser lights made to enter the glass cell from the plurality of directions, and configured to make the second laser light enter and transmit toward a direction of one of the first laser lights obtained by branching, thereby synthesizing as the first laser light from the one direction and the second laser light in the same optical path” (claim 6); or
“the first laser device applies the first laser light for trapping the alkali metal atoms from the plurality of directions; and the second laser device applies the second laser light for measuring a resonance frequency” (claim 8; the prior art only discloses providing both lights for measuring a resonance frequency, as disclosed by Larsen, or both lights for trapping the atoms, as disclosed by Wang et al. (“A cold 87Rb atomic beam”; Fig.1a) and Lv et al. (US 2020/0076441; Fig.3)).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Imai et al. (US 2020/0275547) and Chu et al. (US 5,338,930) disclose other examples of a MOT apparatus, but do not disclose combining the probing light with the trapping light on a same optical path.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN JOHNSON whose telephone number is (571)270-1264. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Menna Youssef can be reached at (571)270-3684. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RYAN JOHNSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2849
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