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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/optical-frequency-comb-photodetector-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Photonics & Optics Patent LandscapeOptical Frequency Comb Photodetector Patents: Who Is Filing and Where Activity Has Cooled
- Filing has declined since its 2019 peak. activity ran from 5 families in 2017 to a peak of 9 in 2019, then fell back to 2 by the midpoint year of 2022, with the latest year showing 0 — a flat-to-declining trajectory rather than a growth curve.
- Lithium niobate integration and FM lidar dominate the cited core. the most-cited records across US, WO and continuation filings repeatedly trace back to two families: integrated lithium niobate comb generation and comb-based parallel FM lidar.
- Momentum has stalled across every tracked assignee. every top-ranked organization shows 0 filings in the latest tracked year, including a -100% year-on-year drop for the two Korean research institutes that were most recently active.
17
Published Records
US
Leading Jurisdiction
8
Active Filers Ranked
2019
Peak Filing Year
Published byPatsnap Research··7 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Field Overview
What this landscape covers
Optical frequency comb photodetection sits at the intersection of comb generation and high-speed optical receivers: circuits and methods for detecting, demultiplexing, or stabilizing individual comb lines, including dual-comb detection schemes and integrated photodetector architectures built around lithium niobate and related platforms. The search underlying this page combines frequency-comb terminology in the title/abstract with detection-specific concepts, restricted to IPC classes covering optical modulation (G02F), photodetector semiconductor structures (H01L31/107) and laser/optical amplifier systems (H01S3/00).
The dataset holds 17 published patent families spanning 2015 through the 2026 cut-off. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the most recent one to two years understate true filing activity and should be read as provisional.
Filing activity, 2017-2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Optical Frequency Comb Photodetector covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Filing & Classification Data
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 17 families: how filing volume has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the claims actually sit in.
A peak year, then a decline
Filings rose from 5 in 2017 to a peak of 9 in 2019, then dropped to 2 by 2022 and to 0 in the most recent tracked year. Given the 18-month publication lag, the last one to two years will likely be revised upward as more filings surface, but the multi-year decline from the 2019 peak predates that lag effect.
Concentrated in optical modulation, with lidar and laser overlap
All 17 records classify under G02F (optical control and modulation), confirming that the search core sits squarely in comb/modulation hardware. Five records also carry G01S (radar, sonar and positioning) codes and five carry H01S (lasers), reflecting the FM lidar and laser-stabilization use cases visible in the top-cited records. Only one record touches H04B (general transmission), suggesting telecom-specific comb detection claims remain sparse in this corpus.
Shares are the percentage of the 17 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Optical Frequency Comb Photodetector covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
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The most-cited records anchor two technical threads
Representative Recent Filing
System and method for generating optical frequency comb-based signal for radio telescope
KOREA ADVANCED INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
An optical frequency comb-based signal generating system for a radio telescope includes a laser configured to output an optical frequency comb synchronized with a frequency reference, an optical fiber link to transmit the comb to a receiving end, a fiber link stabilizer that detects timing differences between reflected and output pulses to compensate for fiber link noise, and a signal generator that produces at least one signal used by the radio telescope through photodetection.Filed by KAIST, published 2025-10-16 — the most recent record in this dataset.
Most-cited records in the corpus
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20210096444A1 | Optical frequency comb generation in integrated lithium niobate devices | 29 |
| 2 | US20220413354A1 | Optical frequency comb based parallel FM lidar | 14 |
| 3 | WO2019213137A1 | Optical frequency comb generation in integrated lithium niobate devices | 14 |
| 4 | US11537026B2 | Optical frequency comb generation in integrated lithium niobate devices | 11 |
| 5 | WO2021098975A1 | Optical frequency comb based parallel FM lidar | 9 |
| 6 | US11175563B2 | All-microwave stabilization of microresonator-based optical frequency combs | 7 |
| 7 | WO2018089075A1 | All-microwave stabilization of microresonator-based optical frequency combs | 6 |
| 8 | EP3500892A1 | All-microwave stabilization of microresonator-based optical frequency combs | 4 |
| 9 | US20210286230A1 | All-Microwave Stabilization of Microresonator-based Optical Frequency Combs | 4 |
| 10 | US11506953B2 | Downhole telemetry system using frequency combs | 2 |
Citation counts reflect influence within this searched corpus and skew toward older filings; treat them as a signal of prior-art density, not current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Citation counts and representative records. Derived from a Patsnap search on Optical Frequency Comb Photodetector covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three patterns stand out once the raw counts are read against the classification and citation data.
Filing Trajectory
9 → 0
peak year 2019 to latest year
Activity peaked and has not recovered
The corpus peaked at 9 families in 2019 and fell to 2 by the 2022 midpoint before reaching 0 in the latest tracked year. Even allowing for publication lag understating the tail, the multi-year decline from peak is a genuine signal that early movers have not been followed by a second filing wave.
17 families total, 2017-2026
Claim Concentration
17/17 in G02F
records classified under optical modulation
Every record sits in the same IPC core
All 17 families classify under G02F, with five also touching G01S (lidar/positioning) and five touching H01S (lasers). This is a narrow, technically coherent field rather than a broad one — claim space around lithium niobate comb generation and FM lidar detection is where the density actually sits.
IPC composition, this corpus
Citation Anchors
29 citations
top-cited record (US20210096444A1)
Two families drive most forward citations
The most-cited records cluster around integrated lithium niobate comb generation and comb-based parallel FM lidar, each appearing across multiple continuation and PCT filings. New entrants should expect prior-art searches in these two areas to surface the same handful of foundational documents repeatedly.
Most-cited records, this corpus
Geographic Filing
10 US / 4 EP / 3 WO
receiving office split
US-centered with a modest international layer
Ten of the tracked records were filed at the USPTO, with Europe and the WIPO/PCT route each accounting for a smaller share. That split suggests the commercial and litigation stakes for this technology are currently weighted toward the US market.
Receiving offices, this corpus
Eureka AI Agent
Looking for what nobody has claimed yet?
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to optical frequency comb photodetector, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Optical Frequency Comb Photodetector covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Assignee Landscape
Who holds the claims, and where momentum has stalled
Ranking, co-filing pairs and recent-year activity for the organizations behind these 17 families.
Academic Core
4 co-filings
strongest co-assignee pair
University research pairs anchor the top of the ranking
The strongest co-assignee relationship in this dataset links two US research institutions on four shared families, consistent with the lithium niobate comb-generation work that also tops the citation table. Korean research institutes appear in two further, smaller co-filing pairs.
Co-assignee pairs: 4 total
Recent Momentum
0 in latest year
across every top-ranked assignee
No tracked assignee filed in the latest year
Every organization in the recent-momentum data, including the two Korean institutes with a documented -100% year-on-year change, shows zero filings in the most recent tracked year. Read alongside the overall trend decline, this points to a field where the founding research groups have gone quiet rather than one where activity has simply shifted to new players.
Recent-year momentum by assignee
Filing Base
17 families
total in assignee ranking
A small, research-institution-led field
With only 17 families across the entire ranking, this is a niche technical area rather than a crowded one. That makes individual filings — and individual citation counts — proportionally more significant than they would be in a larger corpus.
Total families ranked: 17
Recent-year filing momentum by assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) | 0 | — |
| President and Fellows of Harvard College | 0 | — |
| The Regents of the University of California | 0 | — |
| The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University | 0 | — |
| Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) | 0 | -100% |
| Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) | 0 | -100% |
| Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. (US) | 0 | — |
| KOREA ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY | 0 | -100% |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Optical Frequency Comb Photodetector covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Next Steps
Where to take this analysis
This landscape identifies the pattern; the next steps depend on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, portfolio strategy or technical scouting.
Check freedom-to-operate against the cited core
The two families driving most citations — integrated lithium niobate comb generation and comb-based FM lidar — are the most likely sources of blocking claims for new filings in this space.
Explore the citation networkTrack the stalled assignees for reactivation
Every top-ranked organization shows zero filings in the latest year. A renewed filing from any of them would be an early signal worth monitoring before committing to a claim strategy.
Set up assignee monitoringScope the under-claimed branches
Telecom-band demultiplexing and on-chip comb-to-photodetector coupling show thin coverage relative to the lidar and lithium niobate core, and may offer more open claim space.
Run a white space searchSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Optical Frequency Comb Photodetector covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions about this landscape
It is the detection-side hardware that reads out individual lines of an optical frequency comb, converting them into electrical signals for applications like precision timing, spectroscopy, FM lidar ranging, and radio-telescope signal generation. In this patent corpus, the dominant use cases visible in the most-cited records are integrated lithium niobate comb generation and comb-based parallel FM lidar. The detection step is what turns a comb source into a usable measurement or communication signal rather than just a light source.
The dataset shows filings peaking at 9 in 2019, falling to 2 by 2022, and reaching 0 in the latest tracked year, with every top assignee showing zero recent activity. Part of this tail is an artifact of the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication, which understates the most recent one to two years. But the decline from the 2019 peak predates that lag window, suggesting the founding research groups have not sustained a second wave of filings in this specific technical scope.
The ranking is led by a small group of university and national research institutions, with the strongest co-assignee relationship linking two US research institutions across four shared families. Korean research institutes also appear as a recurring pair, though on a smaller scale. With only 17 families in the entire ranking, this is a research-institution-led niche rather than a corporate-dominated field.
Every record in this corpus classifies under G02F, the IPC subclass for optical control and modulation, confirming that comb photodetection claims are drafted primarily as modulation-and-control hardware rather than as standalone semiconductor photodetector claims. A meaningful subset also carries G01S codes for radar/positioning (reflecting FM lidar applications) and H01S codes for lasers. Only one record touches H04B, the general transmission subclass, indicating limited overlap with mainstream telecom detector claims so far.
Based on the IPC composition and the concentration of citations around lithium niobate comb generation and FM lidar, thinner coverage appears in telecom-band comb line demultiplexing, dual-comb timing jitter compensation, radio-telescope fiber-link stabilization, and on-chip comb-to-photodetector coupling. These branches touch the same core technology but sit outside the two heavily-cited clusters that dominate the corpus. A prior-art search focused specifically on these sub-areas is a reasonable first step before drafting new claims.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Optical Frequency Comb Photodetector covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company's registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.