PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 15875340
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-01
Publication Date: 2018-07
Patent Classification: ["385", "123000"]

Abstract:
A phase controller for controlling the phase of a light signal in a surface waveguide and a method for its fabrication are disclosed. The phase controller controls the phase of the light signal by inducing stress in the waveguide structure, thereby controlling the refractive indices of at least some of its constituent layers. The phase controller includes a phase-control element formed on topographic features of the top cladding of the waveguide, where these features (1) provide a shape to the phase-control element that matches the shape of the mode field of the light signal and (2) give rise to stress-concentration points that focus and direct induced stress into specific regions of the waveguide structure, thereby providing highly efficient phase control. As a result, the phase controller can operate at a lower voltage, lower power, and/or over a shorter interaction length than integrated-optic phase controllers of the prior art.

Claim (Index 1):
A phase controller comprising:\n a surface waveguide ( 302 ) disposed on a substrate ( 116 ), the surface waveguide including a lower cladding ( 306 ), a core ( 308 ), and an upper cladding ( 310 ) comprising a projection ( 316 ) and a field region ( 520 ), wherein the surface waveguide supports a mode field ( 324 ) having a first shape; and a phase-control (PC) element ( 304 ) disposed on at least a portion of the projection, wherein the PC element comprises a first electrode ( 312 - 1 ), a second electrode ( 312 - 2 ), and a piezoelectric layer ( 314 ) that is between the first and second electrodes; wherein the core has a first surface ( 514 ) that defines a first plane (P 1 ), and wherein the field region has a second surface ( 526 ) that defines a second plane (P 3 ), and further wherein the second plane is at or below the height of the first plane; wherein the PC element includes a first stress-concentration point (SP 1 A) that is at or below the height of the first plane; and wherein the PC element has a shape that is substantially matched to the shape of the mode field.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 1.0
- Percentile: 86.0
- Lexical Diversity: 1.84091
- Patent Class: 385.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: False
- Related Applications: ['14580831', '14998174', '15846755', '10756627', '15004037']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.8130522500947611
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.5046224155451081
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.7822092666397958
- Mean Citation Score: 221.133768
- Max Citation Score: 261.47037
- Similarity Product: 175.27478072761417

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 1
- Claim Label 103: 1
- Claim Label 112: 1
- Combined Label: 1
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test