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 .
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: “a computing unit”, in claims 1 and 4-5.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5 and 14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by US Publication 2022/0317038 to Li et al.
Regarding claims 1 and 14, Li discloses and shows in Figures 2-5b, 8a and 9a, a system for performing frequency selective terahertz spectroscopy of a sample (par. 2, 6, 27), the system comprising:
a terahertz radiation emitter (Figures 5a, 5b) configured to emit incident broadband terahertz radiation towards the sample (par. 55, 65, 67, 70, 99, 101; wherein a broadband THz emitter irradiates an object under test);
a receiving unit (301) with a filter (applicant’s terahertz radiation filter) configured to receive outgoing broadband terahertz radiation emitted from the sample, the outgoing broadband terahertz radiation indicative of a frequency content of the incident broadband terahertz radiation passing through the sample, and to filter frequency components of the outgoing broadband terahertz radiation for generating filtered narrowband terahertz radiation (par. 17, 19, 60-67, 91, 99; wherein a receiving unit includes an antenna and a filter, each of which may be configured in a variety of desired different configurations);
a detection unit (302) (applicant’s at least one terahertz radiation receiver) optically coupled to the terahertz radiation filter, the at least one terahertz radiation receiver configured to receive the filtered narrowband terahertz radiation from the terahertz radiation filter and to generate at least one electrical signal based on the filtered narrowband terahertz radiation (par. 17-18, 20, 60-67; wherein a detector unit includes a detector and an amplifier to generate various output signals); and
a computing unit (105) communicatively coupled to the at least one terahertz radiation receiver and configured to receive therefrom the at least one electrical signal (par. 22, 29, 55; wherein a processor performs imaging or spectrometry on a digital signal), the computing unit configured to perform spectroscopy of the sample based on a ratio between the at least one electrical signal and a reference signal (Figures 8d-f) (par. 65, 94, 102; wherein three different local oscillator frequencies are mixed with the received signals to obtain various signals; further the overall obtained spectrum of the object may be viewed as a ratio of each transmitted/ absorbed frequency to the other frequencies within the spectrum);
[claims 2] wherein the terahertz radiation filter is configured to filter the frequency components of the outgoing broadband terahertz radiation by reflecting a high frequency component of the outgoing broadband terahertz radiation that is above a cut-off frequency of the terahertz radiation filter, thereby generating high pass terahertz radiation, and absorbing a low frequency component of the outgoing broadband terahertz radiation that is below the cut-off frequency of the terahertz radiation filter, thereby generating low pass terahertz radiation (par. 57-58, 60-67, 91, 99; wherein a sensing array may be grouped into sensing unit groups, each group comprised of a plurality of sensing units, each sensing unit obtaining a different band of THz frequencies);
[claim 3] wherein the at least one terahertz radiation receiver comprises a first terahertz radiation receiver and a second terahertz radiation receiver, the first terahertz radiation receiver configured to receive the high pass terahertz radiation from the terahertz radiation filter and to generate a first electrical signal indicative of an electric field amplitude of the high pass terahertz radiation, and the second terahertz radiation receiver configured to receive the low pass terahertz radiation from the terahertz radiation filter and to generate a second electrical signal indicative of the electric field amplitude of the low pass terahertz radiation (par. 57-58, 60-67, 91, 99; wherein a sensing array may be grouped into sensing unit groups, each group comprised of a plurality of sensing units, each sensing unit obtaining a different band of THz frequencies; further each of the frequencies bands is adjustable);
[claim 4] wherein the computing unit is communicatively coupled to the first terahertz radiation receiver and to the second terahertz radiation receiver, and configured to receive therefrom the first electrical signal and the second electrical signal, the computing unit configured to perform spectroscopy of the sample based on the ratio between the first electrical signal and the second electrical signal (Figures 8d-f) (par. 65, 94, 102; wherein three different local oscillator frequencies are mixed with the received signals to obtain various signals; further the overall obtained spectrum of the object may be viewed as a ratio of each transmitted/absorbed frequency to the other frequencies within the spectrum);
[claims 5] wherein the computing unit is configured to compute the ratio by dividing the electric field amplitude of the high pass terahertz radiation as determined from the first electrical signal and the electric field amplitude of the low pass terahertz radiation as determined from the second electrical signal (Figures 8d-f) (par. 65, 94, 102; wherein the definition of a ratio is known to be one value divided by another value; further the overall obtained spectrum of the object may be viewed as a ratio of each transmitted/absorbed frequency to the other frequencies within the spectrum);
[claim 15] wherein filtering the frequency components of the outgoing broadband terahertz radiation comprises reflecting a high frequency component of the outgoing broadband terahertz radiation that is above a cut-off frequency of the terahertz radiation filter, thereby generating high pass terahertz radiation, and absorbing a low frequency component of the outgoing broadband terahertz radiation that is below the cut-off frequency of the terahertz radiation filter, thereby generating low pass terahertz radiation (par. 57-58, 60-67, 91, 99; wherein a sensing array may be grouped into sensing unit groups, each group comprised of a plurality of sensing units, each sensing unit obtaining a different band of THz frequencies);
[claim 16] wherein generating the at least one electrical signal comprises generating a first electrical signal indicative of an electric field amplitude of the high pass terahertz radiation and a second electrical signal indicative of the electric field amplitude of the low pass terahertz radiation, further wherein spectroscopy of the sample is performed based on the ratio by dividing the electric field amplitude of the high pass terahertz radiation as determined from the first electrical signal and the electric field amplitude of the low pass terahertz radiation as determined from the second electrical signal (par. 57-58, 60-67, 91, 99; wherein a sensing array may be grouped into sensing unit groups, each group comprised of a plurality of sensing units, each sensing unit obtaining a different band of THz frequencies) (par. 65, 94, 102; wherein the definition of a ratio is known to be one value divided by another value; further the overall obtained spectrum of the object may be viewed as a ratio of each transmitted/absorbed frequency to the other frequencies within the spectrum).
Claim(s) 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by US Publication 2005/0036147 to Sterling et al.
Regarding claim 19, Sterling discloses and shows in Figures 1-3, a terahertz radiation filter for use in performing frequency selective terahertz spectroscopy of a sample (par. 10-11, 91), comprising:
a rotating disc (25, 50) (par. 68-71, 81, 97, 103); and
a plurality of frequency selective surfaces (60) radially formed in the rotating disc, the plurality of frequency selective surfaces configured to successively filter, as the disc rotates, frequency components of broadband terahertz radiation incident on the rotating disc and to generate filtered narrowband terahertz radiation based on the broadband terahertz radiation (par. 68-71, 81, 97, 103).
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) 6-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li, in view of Sterling.
Regarding claim 6, Li differs from the limitations in that it is silent to the system further comprising:
[claim 6] wherein the terahertz radiation filter comprises a rotating disc having a plurality of frequency selective surfaces formed therein, the plurality of frequency selective surfaces configured to successively filter the frequency components of the outgoing broadband terahertz radiation as the disc rotates for generating the filtered narrowband terahertz radiation.
However, Sterling teaches and shows in Figures 1-3, a system and method for THz spectroscopy (par. 10-11, 91), wherein a rotating filter wheel (25, 50) having a plurality of radially arranged narrow passband filters (60), is utilized to determine the absorption and transmittance properties of a sample under test (par. 68-71, 77, 81, 97, 103). Sterling further teaches that the disclosed filter wheel may be an electronically tunable filter, “or any other suitable varying-passband filter” (par. 68).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Li to include the rotating filter wheel discussed above for the advantage of using a suitable tunable filter to obtain a series of measurements, with a reasonable expectation of success.
Regarding claims 7-10, Li discloses and shows the system further comprising:
[claim 7] wherein the at least one terahertz radiation receiver is configured to generate the at least one electrical signal comprising a plurality of filter signals associated with the frequency components of the outgoing broadband terahertz radiation successively filtered by the plurality of frequency selective surfaces, and further wherein the computing unit is configured to perform spectroscopy of the sample by computing the ratio between an electric field amplitude of each of the plurality of filter signals and the electric field amplitude of the reference signal (par. 57-58, 60-67, 91, 99; wherein a sensing array may be grouped into sensing unit groups, each group comprised of a plurality of sensing units, each sensing unit obtaining a different band of THz frequencies) (Figures 8d-f) (par. 65, 94, 102; wherein three different local oscillator frequencies are mixed with the received signals to obtain various signals; further the overall obtained spectrum of the object may be viewed as a ratio of each transmitted/ absorbed frequency to the other frequencies within the spectrum);
[claim 8] wherein the plurality of frequency selective surfaces are configured to filter a high frequency component of the outgoing broadband terahertz radiation that is above a cut-off frequency of the terahertz radiation filter, thereby generating high pass terahertz radiation, and to filter a low frequency component of the outgoing broadband terahertz radiation that is below the cut-off frequency of the terahertz radiation filter, thereby generating low pass terahertz radiation (par. 57-58, 60-67, 91, 99; wherein a sensing array may be grouped into sensing unit groups, each group comprised of a plurality of sensing units, each sensing unit obtaining a different band of THz frequencies);
[claim 9] wherein the at least one terahertz radiation receiver is configured to generate a first electrical signal indicative of an electric field amplitude of the high pass terahertz radiation, and a second electrical signal indicative of the electric field amplitude of the low pass terahertz radiation, further wherein the computing unit is configured to perform spectroscopy of the sample based on the ratio between the first electrical signal and the second electrical signal, by computing the ratio between an electric field amplitude of the high pass terahertz radiation as determined from the first electrical signal and the electric field amplitude of the low pass terahertz radiation as determined from the second electrical signal (par. 57-58, 60-67, 91, 99; wherein a sensing array may be grouped into sensing unit groups, each group comprised of a plurality of sensing units, each sensing unit obtaining a different band of THz frequencies) (Figures 8d-f) (par. 65, 94, 102; wherein three different local oscillator frequencies are mixed with the received signals to obtain various signals; further the overall obtained spectrum of the object may be viewed as a ratio of each transmitted/ absorbed frequency to the other frequencies within the spectrum);
[claim 10] wherein the plurality of frequency selective surfaces comprises a first plurality of frequency selective surfaces oriented in a vertical polarization direction and a second plurality of frequency selective surfaces oriented in a horizontal polarization direction (par. 16, 61, 68, 91, 110; wherein the filters may have a variable frequency or polarization characteristic, which may include a plurality of horizontal polarization filters and vertical polarization filters),
further wherein the at least one terahertz radiation receiver is configured to generate the at least one electrical signal comprising a first electrical signal associated with the frequency components of the outgoing broadband terahertz radiation filtered by each the first plurality of frequency selective surfaces and a second electrical signal associated with the frequency components of the outgoing broadband terahertz radiation filtered by each of the second plurality of frequency selective surfaces, and further wherein the computing unit is configured to perform spectroscopy of the sample based on the ratio between the first electrical signal and the second electrical signal (par. 57-58, 60-67, 91, 99; wherein a sensing array may be grouped into sensing unit groups, each group comprised of a plurality of sensing units, each sensing unit obtaining a different band of THz frequencies) (par. 65, 94, 102; wherein the definition of a ratio is known to be one value divided by another value; further the overall obtained spectrum of the object may be viewed as a ratio of each transmitted/absorbed frequency to the other frequencies within the spectrum).
Regarding claims 17-18, Li discloses and shows the system further comprising:
[claim 17] further wherein generating the at least one electrical signal comprises generating a plurality of filter signals associated with the frequency components of the outgoing broadband terahertz radiation successively filtered by the plurality of frequency selective surfaces, and further wherein spectroscopy of the sample is performed by computing the ratio between an electric field amplitude of each of the plurality of filter signals and the electric field amplitude of the reference signal (Figures 8d-f) (par. 65, 94, 102; wherein three different local oscillator frequencies are mixed with the received signals to obtain various signals; further the overall obtained spectrum of the object may be viewed as a ratio of each transmitted/ absorbed frequency to the other frequencies within the spectrum);
[claim 18] the first plurality of frequency selective surfaces oriented in a vertical polarization direction and the second plurality of frequency selective surfaces oriented in a horizontal polarization direction (par. 16, 61, 68, 91, 110; wherein the filters may have a variable frequency or polarization characteristic, which may include a plurality of horizontal polarization filters and vertical polarization filters),
further wherein generating the at least one electrical signal comprises generating a first electrical signal associated with the frequency components of the outgoing broadband terahertz radiation filtered by each the first plurality of frequency selective surfaces and a generating second electrical signal associated with the frequency components of the outgoing broadband terahertz radiation filtered by each of the second plurality of frequency selective surfaces, and further wherein spectroscopy of the sample is performed based on the ratio between the first electrical signal and the second electrical signal (par. 65, 94, 102; wherein the definition of a ratio is known to be one value divided by another value; further the overall obtained spectrum of the object may be viewed as a ratio of each transmitted/absorbed frequency to the other frequencies within the spectrum).
Li differs from the limitations in that it is silent to the system further comprising: wherein the frequency components of the outgoing broadband terahertz radiation are successively filtered by a plurality of frequency selective surfaces formed in a rotating disc.
However, Sterling teaches and shows in Figures 1-3, a system and method for THz spectroscopy (par. 10-11, 91), wherein a rotating filter wheel (25, 50) having a plurality of radially arranged narrow passband filters (60), is utilized to determine the absorption and transmittance properties of a sample under test (par. 68-71, 77, 81, 97, 103). Sterling further teaches that the disclosed filter wheel may be an electronically tunable filter, “or any other suitable varying-passband filter” (par. 68).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Li to include the rotating filter wheel discussed above for the advantage of using a suitable tunable filter to obtain a series of measurements, with a reasonable expectation of success.
Claim(s) 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sterling, in view of Li.
Regarding claim 20, Sterling differs from the limitations in that it is silent to the filter further comprising:
wherein the plurality of frequency selective surfaces comprises a first plurality of frequency selective surfaces oriented in a vertical polarization direction and a second plurality of frequency selective surfaces oriented in a horizontal polarization direction.
However, Li teaches and shows in Figures 2-5b, 8a and 9a, a system for performing frequency selective terahertz spectroscopy of a sample (par. 2, 6, 27), the system comprising:
a THz sensing array comprising a plurality of sensing units, wherein each sensing unit has a tunable antenna and a tunable filter, and wherein the filters may have variable frequency or polarization characteristics, which may include horizontal polarization directions and vertical polarization directions (par. 16, 61, 68, 92, 110).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Sterling to include the plurality of polarization filters discussed above for the advantage of increasing measurement resolution and improving sensing flexibility (par. 16), with a reasonable expectation of success.
Claim(s) 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li, in view of US Publication 2015/0377782 to Vieweg et al.
Regarding claims 11-13, Li differs from the limitations in that it is silent to the system further comprising:
[claim 11] further comprising a laser source configured to generate a train of laser pulses, the terahertz radiation emitter coupled to the laser source and configured to receive the train of laser pulses therefrom and to convert the train of laser pulses into the incident broadband terahertz radiation;
[claim 12] wherein the terahertz radiation emitter comprises an emitter antenna for receiving the train of laser pulses and a photoconductive switch for emitting the incident broadband terahertz radiation;
[claim 13] wherein the at least one terahertz radiation receiver comprises a receiver antenna connected to a Schottky diode, the Schottky diode having a usable frequency range that matches a peak power of the filtered narrowband terahertz radiation.
However, Vieweg teaches and shows in Figures , a terahertz imaging system for inspecting an object under test, wherein a pulsed laser source (1) is utilized to provide light pulses to a THz antenna (3), which receives the light pulses and provides THz radiation to a sample, and wherein time-resolved THz spectroscopy is performed by a second THz antenna (5) and detection circuitry (par. 2-4, 7, 11, 17, 19, 31). Further, well-known commercially available components are disclosed, such as pulsed fiber lasers and Schottky diodes (par. 19, 22-23, 31), and photoconductive switches are well-known.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Li to include the well-known components discussed above for the advantage of utilizing well-known components to generate and perform time-resolved THz spectroscopy, with a reasonable expectation of success.
Conclusion
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JONATHAN M. HANSEN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2877
/JONATHAN M HANSEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2877
