JP2006243228A - Optical waveguide forming method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical waveguide forming method capable of simplifying a manufacturing process and forming a low-loss optical waveguide.
In an optical waveguide forming method of forming an optical waveguide 15 comprising a high refractive index core 17 and a low refractive index clad 16 on a glass substrate 11,
A silica glass thin film 12 having a refractive index higher than that of the silica glass substrate 11 is formed on the silica glass substrate 11 by using a physical vapor deposition method, and an arbitrary portion of the silica glass thin film 12 is locally heated. A part is formed on the clad 16 and a non-heated part is formed on the core 17.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical waveguide forming method applied to various optical transmission systems in the optical communication field.

  In recent years, construction of a wavelength division multiplexing optical communication network (WDM optical transmission system) has been promoted in order to realize a photonic network that can cope with a dramatic increase in data traffic due to the spread of the Internet and the like.

  In WDM optical transmission systems, it is effective to apply planar lightwave circuit (PLC) technology that can integrate the functions of various optical components and electronic components using optical waveguides in order to reduce costs. ing. It is desired to easily realize downsizing and high integration of a PLC device in which such various functions are integrated.

  Silica glass is widely used as the main material of optical fibers. Silica glass is widely used in the field of optical communications. 1) Low loss and extremely large transmission capacity 2) High mechanical strength and chemical durability, and excellent long-term reliability 3) Transmission technology This is because it has acceptability that can cope with a wide range of sophistication.

  On the other hand, PLC devices used as a relay unit and a termination unit of an optical transmission system are mounted on a communication network by being fused and connected to an optical fiber in order to reduce loss of communication light intensity. Therefore, considering that the optical fiber is made of silica glass, it is desirable that the main component material of the PLC device is also silica glass.

  Currently used silica glass-based PLC devices are based on an optical waveguide using a silica glass substrate as a substrate and germanium-doped silica glass as a core.

Here, the refractive index, thermal expansion coefficient, and density, which are basic physical properties of silica glass and germanium-doped glass, will be described. The refractive index of germanium-doped glass is proportional to the doping concentration, and is 1.460 when the doping concentration is 10 mol%. On the other hand, the refractive index of silica glass used as a waveguide substrate is 1.457. The thermal expansion coefficient α and density ρ of germanium-doped silica glass are α = 18 × 10 ⁻⁷ (K ⁻¹ ) and ρ = 2.33 (g / cm ³ ) when the doping concentration is 10 mol%. On the other hand, the thermal expansion coefficient α and density ρ of silica glass are α = 5 × 10 ⁻⁷ (K ⁻¹ ) and ρ = 2.20 (g / cm ³ ) (for example, see Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  In general, an optical waveguide formed of a silica glass-based material includes (1) a step of forming a thin film having a high refractive index on a silica glass substrate, and (2) a desired waveguide structure cut out from the thin film having a high refractive index. The optical waveguide core pattern is formed by a process of forming a core pattern.

There is a flame deposition method (FHD method) as a method for producing a thin film having a high refractive index as a core on a substrate. In the FHD method, gaseous SiCl ₄ and GeCl ₄ are blown onto a silica glass substrate and hydrolyzed in a flame with an oxygen burner to form glass microparticles with a particle size of 0.1 μm and sintered in an electric furnace. This is a method for forming a germanium-doped glass thin film (for example, see Non-Patent Document 3).

  An optical waveguide including a Y-branch waveguide or a curved waveguide having a curvature is manufactured using photolithography and reactive ion etching. Specifically, a resist is applied on a thin film of the core material formed by the FHD method, and the waveguide pattern is exposed and transferred by ultraviolet irradiation. Thereafter, the resist in the unexposed area is removed. The thin film portion from which the resist has been removed is removed by a reactive ion etching process, leaving only the waveguide core. Thereafter, the resist in the exposed portion is removed to obtain a desired waveguide pattern (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 4).

As another method for forming an optical waveguide, there is a method for forming a core pattern of an optical waveguide by irradiating silica glass with a femtosecond pulse laser or an ultraviolet laser to increase the refractive index of the irradiated portion. For example, when a femtosecond pulse laser is used, a refractive index change of about 0.5 to 1% can be induced when irradiated with an intensity having a peak power of several GW / cm ² per pulse (for example, Patent Document 1). To 4 and non-patent documents 5 and 6).

JP 2004-361811 A JP 2004-295066 A JP 2004-101697 A JP 2002-311266 A Shigeki Sakaguchi “Handbook of Amorphous Silica Materials”, Realize, p.156, (1999) Y.Y.Huang and A.Sarkar “Relationship between composition, density and refractive index for germania slica glasses” Jounal of Non-Crystalline Solids Vol.27, 29-37, (1978) Yasuharu Omori “Amorphous Silica Materials Application Handbook”, Realize, p.572, (1999) Hiroshi Nishihara, Masamitsu Haruna, Toshiaki Sugawara “Optical Integrated Circuits”, Ohmsha, p.204, (1993) K. M. Davis, K. Miura, Naoki Sugimoto, Kazuyuki Hirao, “Writing waveguides in glass with a femtosecond laser” Optics Letters, Vol. 21, No. 21, 1729, (1996) K.O.Hill, Y.Fujii, D.C.Johnson, and B.S.Kawasaki, Appl. Phys. Lett. 32, 647, (1978)

  In order to form an optical waveguide, there are many problems such as the formation of a thin film that becomes a core, photolithography, etching, and the formation of a thin film that becomes a cladding, resulting in a large number of manufacturing steps and high costs.

  When the glass fine particles are sintered in the FHD method, the thin film temperature changes from room temperature to 1300 ° C. Therefore, stress is generated at the interface due to the difference in thermal expansion coefficient between the silica glass as the substrate and the germanium-doped silica glass as the waveguide core. When the stress is generated, there is a problem that the optical waveguide is damaged or stress birefringence occurs.

  When performing exposure and transfer of the waveguide pattern using photolithography, a photomask is required. Since one photomask is required for one type of waveguide pattern, it is not possible to arbitrarily manufacture many types of waveguides, and there is a drawback that the manufacturing process is not flexible.

  Reactive ion etching includes a wet process, and the load that the waste liquid after etching has on the environment has been a serious problem. In addition, when fine etching is performed, “burrs” generated at the etching interface in particular cause light scattering in the waveguide core and increase the loss of the optical waveguide.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an optical waveguide forming method capable of solving the above-described problems, simplifying the manufacturing process, and forming a low-loss optical waveguide.

  In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 is a method for forming an optical waveguide comprising a high refractive index core and a low refractive index cladding on a glass substrate. A silica glass thin film having a refractive index higher than the refractive index of the silica glass substrate is formed by using a physical vapor deposition method, an arbitrary portion of the silica glass thin film is locally heated, and the heated portion is used as the above-described clad and the non-heated portion. Is a method of forming an optical waveguide on the core.

  A second aspect of the present invention is the optical waveguide forming method according to the first aspect, wherein the silica glass thin film is irradiated with a laser to be locally heated.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical waveguide forming method for forming an optical waveguide comprising a high refractive index core and a low refractive index clad on a glass substrate, wherein a physical vapor deposition method is used on the silica glass substrate. A silica glass thin film having a refractive index higher than that of the silica glass substrate is formed, a photomask is provided above the silica glass thin film, a laser is irradiated to the silica glass thin film through the photomask, and the irradiated portion is coated with the cladding. And a non-irradiated portion is formed on the core.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is the optical waveguide forming method according to the second or third aspect, wherein the laser is a CO ₂ laser.

  A fifth aspect of the present invention is the optical waveguide forming method according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the silica glass thin film has a thickness of 2 to 100 μm.

  According to a sixth aspect of the invention, the physical vapor deposition method is any one of a magnetron high-frequency sputtering method, a high-frequency sputtering method, an electron beam vapor deposition method, a heat vapor deposition method, or a reactive sputtering method. It is an optical waveguide formation method of description.

  A seventh aspect of the present invention is the optical waveguide forming method according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the silica glass substrate is heated at a heating temperature of 400 ° C. or higher when the physical vapor deposition method is performed.

  According to the present invention, the manufacturing process can be simplified, and an excellent effect that a low-loss optical waveguide can be formed is exhibited.

In the conventional optical waveguide formation method, GeO ₂ doped silica glass was used as the core, but in order to simplify the optical waveguide formation process, the refractive index of the GeO ₂ doped silica glass thin film itself was controlled. There was an attempt to form a cladding. The refractive index of GeO ₂ doped silica glass is proportional to the dopant concentration. This dopant concentration is determined by the concentration ratio of SiCl ₄ and GeCl ₄ when produced by the FHD method and the heating temperature during the reaction. However, the refractive index of GeO ₂ -doped silica glass once produced by the FHD method has a drawback that it cannot be changed greatly by post-treatment. For example, the refractive index change rate is only 0.02% when the fictive temperature of GeO ₂ -doped silica glass is 1000-1400 ° C. by heat treatment.

  Then, this inventor paid attention to reducing the refractive index of a heating part by locally heating the silica glass thin film formed by the physical vapor deposition method, and came to this invention.

  Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1A to FIG. 1C are schematic perspective views showing a preferred embodiment of an optical waveguide forming method according to the present invention.

  An optical waveguide 15 formed by the optical waveguide forming method of the present embodiment is provided with a high refractive index core 17 and a low refractive index clad 16 on a substrate 11.

  First, as shown to Fig.1 (a), a synthetic silica glass substrate is prepared as the silica glass substrate 11, and in order to make the refractive index distribution of a synthetic silica glass substrate constant, it heat-processes at 1100 degreeC for 8 hours. The heat treatment temperature of the synthetic silica glass substrate is 1000 ° C. or higher, and the heat treatment time is appropriately adjusted according to the heat treatment temperature. A pure silica glass substrate may be used as the silica glass substrate 11.

  As shown in FIG. 1B, a silica glass thin film (sputtered silica thin film) 12 is formed on a silica glass substrate 11 using a magnetron high frequency sputtering method as a physical vapor deposition method. The silica glass thin film 12 becomes a high-density thin film by being deposited using a physical vapor deposition method, and becomes a thin film having a higher refractive index than the silica glass substrate 11.

  When performing the physical vapor deposition method, the relative refractive index difference can be increased to about 0.5 to 1% by setting the temperature of the silica glass substrate 11 to about 1/3 or less of the melting point of the silica glass thin film 12.

As shown in FIG. 1C, the silica glass thin film 12 is irradiated with a continuous wave CO ₂ laser L having a wavelength of 10.6 μm. The CO ₂ laser L is focused and irradiated on a spot 14 of 10 to 100 μm by a lens (microscope objective lens) 13. The lens 13 is a lens using ZnSe crystal as a lens that transmits light having a wavelength of 10.6 μm.

Silica glass (SiO ₂ ) has a wavelength absorption band due to the bond of silicon (Si) and oxygen (O) in the 10.6 μm wavelength band (wave number of about 1100 cm ⁻¹ ). At the spot, the laser light energy is absorbed and converted into heat. The portion (heated portion) irradiated with the laser by the heat is locally heated to lower the refractive index and become a low refractive index region.

  This is because when the silica glass thin film 12 formed by the physical vapor deposition method is heated at 600 to 1000 ° C., the density of the silica glass thin film 12 decreases due to heating, and the refractive index changes as the heating time elapses. is there.

Next, the optical axis of the CO ₂ laser L and the lens 13 are moved. Specifically, by scanning the spot 14 at a portion to be a clad of a desired waveguide pattern, the low refractive index region is continuously formed, and the clad 16 of the optical waveguide 15 is formed. Further, the portion (non-heated portion) where the silica glass thin film 12 is not irradiated with the CO ₂ laser L becomes the core 17 of the optical waveguide 15 without changing its refractive index.

  As described above, the silica glass thin film 12 can be formed at the same time as the cladding (low refractive index region) 16 and the core (high refractive index region) 17. can get.

By focusing and irradiating the CO ₂ laser L, the refractive index in the region of 10 to 100 μm can be locally reduced, so that a Y-branch waveguide (FIG. 1 (c)), an optical waveguide with a curvature, etc. An optical waveguide having a fine refractive index distribution can be arbitrarily formed (refractive index distribution is written).

  In this embodiment, since the optical waveguide pattern is directly drawn and formed on the silica glass thin film 12 by laser irradiation, the optical waveguide 15 can be formed without performing photolithography or etching, and compared with the conventional manufacturing method. The manufacturing process can be simplified and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

  Here, the refractive indexes of the silica glass substrate 11 and the silica glass thin film 12 will be described.

  FIG. 2 shows the relationship between the substrate temperature and the refractive index. In the figure, ○ indicates the silica glass substrate 11 and ● indicates the silica glass thin film 12.

  As shown in FIG. 2, it can be seen that the refractive index is different between the silica glass substrate 11 and the silica glass thin film 12 by forming the silica glass thin film 12 using magnetron high frequency sputtering which is a physical vapor deposition method. However, the refractive index of the silica glass thin film 12 greatly depends on the substrate temperature at the time of sputtering. The higher the substrate temperature, the lower the refractive index and the smaller the relative refractive index difference with the silica glass substrate 11. For example, a sample with a substrate temperature of 80 ° C. has a relative refractive index difference of about 1.0% with respect to the silica glass substrate 11, whereas a sample with a substrate temperature of 580 ° C. has a relative refractive index difference of 0.8%. there were.

  In the present embodiment, the silica glass substrate 11 is used, and the silica glass thin film 12 formed by the physical vapor volume method is used as the core 17 of the optical waveguide 15. Therefore, since both the substrate 11 and the optical waveguide 15 are formed of silica glass, the thermal expansion coefficient between the substrate and the core is higher than that of the optical waveguide in which the core having a composition different from that of the substrate is formed using the conventional FHD method. Stress birefringence due to the difference and damage probability due to stress can be greatly reduced.

  FIG. 3 shows the relationship between the waveguide loss of the optical waveguide and the substrate temperature during sputtering.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the waveguide loss increases as the substrate temperature decreases. As the substrate temperature increases, the waveguide loss decreases, and the waveguide loss converges at 500 ° C. or higher. The loss of the optical waveguide formed with the substrate temperature at the time of sputtering of 450 ° C. or higher is 1 dB / cm or less, and an optical waveguide that can withstand practical use can be formed.

An optical waveguide 15 formed by the method of the present embodiment has been formed by irradiating a CO ₂ laser L only portion which becomes the cladding 16, CO ₂ laser core 17 by the communication light is mainly propagated L is not irradiated, and the loss of the optical waveguide 15 depends only on the film quality when the silica glass thin film 12 is formed by physical vapor deposition. Therefore, in order to form an optical waveguide with a loss of 1 dB / cm or less that can be used practically, the substrate temperature during physical vapor deposition is 400 ° C. or higher, preferably 450 ° C. or higher, more preferably 500 ° C. or higher. It is preferable to do this. When the substrate temperature is 400 ° C. or lower, the thickness distribution of the silica glass thin film 12 formed by sputtering is formed non-uniformly, and the waveguide loss increases.

  Moreover, in this Embodiment, the film thickness of the silica glass thin film 12 was 2 micrometers. The thickness of the silica glass thin film 12 is appropriately determined according to the thickness of the core 17 and is not particularly limited, but is preferably 2 to 100 μm, for example.

Next, the relationship between the intensity of the CO ₂ laser L and the refractive index of the silica glass thin film 12 will be described.

4, a silica glass film 12 when irradiated for 5 seconds CO ₂ laser at an intensity of 150~400W / cm ^2, the relationship between the peak number and the CO ₂ laser intensity of the infrared reflection spectrum of radiation spots 14 Show.

As shown in FIG. 4, the change in the peak wave number of the infrared reflection spectrum represents the change in the refractive index of the silica glass thin film 12, and the higher the laser intensity, the larger the peak wave number (the refractive index of the silica glass thin film 12). As a result, the relative refractive index difference from the silica glass thin film 12 not irradiated with the laser is increased. For example, when irradiation is performed with a laser intensity of 300 to 400 W / cm ² , the peak wave number of the infrared reflection spectrum of the irradiation spot 14 changes to about 1121 cm ⁻¹ . Thereby, it can be seen that the refractive index of the silica glass thin film 12 is close to the refractive index of the silica glass substrate 11. Furthermore, the refractive index of the glass thin film can be changed to an arbitrary value by changing the intensity of the CO ₂ laser L, and a two-dimensional optical waveguide in which the refractive index of the clad 16 is changed in the horizontal direction of the substrate is formed. Can do.

The CO ₂ laser L has a peak power of several hundred W / cm ² and a refractive index of about 0.5 to 1% is changed. Therefore, by using the CO ₂ laser L, the power required for changing the refractive index can be remarkably reduced as compared with a femtosecond pulse laser or the like.

Further, in the conventional manufacturing method using reactive ion etching, the refractive index interface between the core and the cladding becomes steep, and “burrs” that cause scattering of the guided light occur. However, in this embodiment, is to draw a refractive index distribution using the CO ₂ laser L, the profile of the CO ₂ laser L is in the form of a Gaussian function having a unimodal. Therefore, the refractive index interface of the optical waveguide 15 written by laser irradiation has a smooth gradient, and loss due to scattering can be reduced.

Further, since the refractive index change is induced by directly irradiating the silica glass thin film 12 with the CO ₂ laser L, it is not necessary to perform a wet process, and the environmental load due to waste liquid treatment or the like can be reduced.

Since the optical waveguide forming method of the present embodiment is based on the point drawing of the CO ₂ laser L, the silica glass thin film 12 is sufficiently separated from the desired optical waveguide core pattern (here, sufficiently separated). In other words, in a place where guided light propagating through the optical waveguide does not leak into the clad), the manufacturing time may be shortened by omitting the step of forming the low refractive index region by laser irradiation.

In the present embodiment, the silica glass thin film 12 is heated by CO ₂ laser irradiation to reduce its refractive index, but the present invention is limited to this as long as the silica glass thin film 12 can be locally heated. It is not a thing.

  Since the optical waveguide 15 has the same composition of the core 17 and the clad 16, the refractive index of the clad 16 can be returned (reset) to the refractive index before laser irradiation by performing a heat treatment at 1000 ° C. or higher. The refractive index distribution of the silica glass thin film 12 can be made uniform. Furthermore, when the silica glass thin film 12 is heat-treated at 1100 ° C., the silica glass thin film 12 has a refractive index equal to that of the silica glass substrate 11 and can be reused as a silica glass substrate.

  In this embodiment, the magnetron high-frequency sputtering method has been described as the physical vapor deposition method, but other examples of the physical vapor deposition method include a high-frequency sputtering method, an electron beam sputtering method, a thermal evaporation method, and a reactive sputtering method. It is done.

  In the optical waveguide 15 formed in this embodiment, since the upper surface of the core 17 is in contact with the air layer, a protective layer (upper clad) having a low refractive index is formed on the upper surface of the optical waveguide 15 in order to prevent damage due to friction. May be.

  Next, an optical waveguide forming method according to another embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 (a) to 5 (d).

  As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, a silica glass thin film 12 is formed on a silica glass substrate 11 by using a physical vapor deposition method in the same manner as the forming method of FIG.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5C, a photomask 18 is arranged above the silica glass thin film 12, and the CO ₂ laser L is irradiated from above the photomask 18.

The photomask 18 is formed of a base material 19 made of a material having a high transmittance with respect to the wavelength of the CO ₂ laser L applied to the silica glass thin film 12, and the base material 19 is made of a material having a high reflectivity. 20 is formed.

In the present embodiment, the base material 19 is formed of a ZnSe crystal that is transparent (high transmittance) at a CO ₂ laser wavelength of 10.6 μm. The transmittance of the ZnSe crystal at a wavelength of 10.6 μm is 70%. The mask pattern 20 is formed by vapor deposition of gold (Au), platinum (Pt) or chromium (Cr) having high reflectivity at a CO ₂ laser wavelength of 10.6 μm. At a wavelength of 10.6 μm, the reflectance of gold is 98%, the reflectance of platinum is 96%, and the reflectance of chromium is 90%.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5D, a projection lens system 21 is provided between the photomask 18 and the silica glass thin film 12. The projection lens system 21 is provided to adjust the beam diameter of the CO ₂ laser L to the size of the optical waveguide 15. For example, two projection lenses 21a and 21b are arranged in parallel, the laser L is made into a parallel light beam by the lens 21a on the photomask 18 side, and the parallel light beam is irradiated to the silica glass thin film 12 by the lens 21b on the silica glass thin film 12 side. Is done. By using the projection lens system 21, the silica glass thin film 12 can be irradiated with laser while maintaining the intensity of the CO ₂ laser L.

When the CO ₂ laser L passes through the photomask 18, it has an intensity distribution corresponding to the mask pattern 20 and is irradiated onto the silica glass thin film 12. Specifically, the core pattern laser is blocked by the photomask 18, and the silica glass thin film 12 is irradiated with the CO ₂ laser L only on the portion that becomes the clad 16. The irradiated portion (irradiated portion) has a lower refractive index and becomes the cladding 16, and the unirradiated portion (non-irradiated portion) becomes the core 17 to form the optical waveguide 15.

  In the optical waveguide forming method of the present embodiment, laser irradiation can be performed in a wider range than the optical waveguide forming method of the previous embodiment. Therefore, a waveguide pattern can be formed in a short time according to the mask pattern 20 of the photomask 18, and the optical waveguide 15 can be mass-produced.

Further, when the optical waveguide pattern is sufficiently larger than the beam diameter of the CO ₂ laser L, by scanning the optical axis and the projection lens system 21 of the CO ₂ laser L, it is also possible to form an optical waveguide.

  EXAMPLES Next, although this invention is demonstrated based on an Example, Embodiment of this invention is not limited to these Examples.

  A synthetic silica glass substrate (manufactured by EDH Tosoh Quartz) is used as the substrate, and the synthetic silica glass substrate is heated at 1100 ° C. for 8 hours to keep the refractive index of the synthetic silica substrate constant.

  A silica glass thin film was formed on a synthetic silica glass substrate using a magnetron radio frequency sputtering method. The conditions of the magnetron high-frequency sputtering method are: silica glass (manufactured by High-Purity Science) is used as the sputtering target, the pressure in the chamber is 0.2 Pa, and the atmosphere gas in the chamber is argon gas and oxygen gas at a pressure ratio of 1: 1. The sputtering time was 9 hours, the high frequency power was 100 W, and the high frequency cycle was 13.5 MHz. Eight samples were formed by setting the substrate temperature at the time of sputtering to any one within the range of 80 ° C. to 580 ° C. and the thickness of the silica glass thin film being 2 μm.

  Using a prism coupler, the refractive index of the silica glass substrate and the silica glass thin film was measured with the wavelength of the laser beam for measurement being 633 nm. The relationship between the substrate temperature and the refractive index is as shown in FIG.

  A silica glass optical waveguide was fabricated on a synthetic silica glass substrate by using a magnetron high frequency sputtering method. The conditions of the magnetron high-frequency sputtering method are: silica glass (manufactured by High-Purity Science) is used as the sputtering target, the pressure in the chamber is 0.2 Pa, and the atmosphere gas in the chamber is argon gas and oxygen gas at a pressure ratio of 1: 1. The sputtering time was 9 hours, the high frequency power was 100 W, and the high frequency cycle was 13.5 MHz. Five optical waveguides were formed by setting the substrate temperature at the time of sputtering to any one within the range of 180 ° C. to 580 ° C. and the thickness of the silica glass thin film being 2 μm.

  Using a fiber coupler, the loss of the optical waveguide of this example was measured by setting the wavelength of the laser beam for measurement to 633 nm. The relationship between the substrate temperature and the waveguide loss is as shown in FIG.

A silica glass thin film formed on a synthetic silica glass substrate using a magnetron high-frequency sputtering method was irradiated with a CO ₂ laser, and the peak wave number of the infrared reflection spectrum at the irradiated spot was measured.

  In the magnetron high-frequency sputtering method, the pressure in the chamber is 0.2 Pa, the atmosphere gas in the chamber is argon gas and oxygen gas at a pressure ratio of 1: 1, the sputtering time is 9 hours, the high-frequency power is 100 W, and the high-frequency cycle is 13.5 MHz. A silica glass thin film having a film thickness of 2 μm was formed at a substrate temperature of 600 ° C.

Next, the formed silica glass thin film was irradiated with a CO ₂ laser at any intensity within the range of 150 to 400 W / cm ² for 5 seconds, and the number of peaks in the infrared reflection spectrum of the irradiated spot was measured. The relationship between the intensity of the CO ₂ laser beam and the number of peaks in the infrared reflection spectrum is as shown in FIG.

FIG. 1A to FIG. 1C are schematic perspective views illustrating respective steps of a waveguide manufacturing method according to a preferred embodiment. It is a figure which shows the relationship between a substrate temperature and the refractive index in wavelength 633nm. It is a figure which shows the relationship between a substrate temperature and the waveguide loss in wavelength 633nm. It is a diagram showing the relationship between the CO ₂ laser intensity and the peak of the infrared reflection spectrum. FIG. 5A to FIG. 5C are schematic perspective views for explaining each process of the waveguide manufacturing method of another preferred embodiment, and FIG. 5D is a diagram of FIG. It is a front view explaining a detail.

Explanation of symbols

11 Silica glass substrate 12 Silica glass thin film 13 Lens 15 Optical waveguide 16 Clad 17 Core L CO ₂ laser

Claims (7)

In an optical waveguide forming method of forming an optical waveguide comprising a high refractive index core and a low refractive index clad on a glass substrate,
A silica glass thin film having a refractive index higher than that of the silica glass substrate is formed on the silica glass substrate by using a physical vapor deposition method, and an arbitrary portion of the silica glass thin film is locally heated, and the heating portion is clad as described above. And forming an unheated portion on the core.   The method for forming an optical waveguide according to claim 1, wherein the silica glass thin film is locally heated by irradiating a laser. In an optical waveguide forming method of forming an optical waveguide comprising a high refractive index core and a low refractive index clad on a glass substrate,
A silica glass thin film having a refractive index higher than that of the silica glass substrate is formed on the silica glass substrate by using a physical vapor deposition method, a photomask is provided above the silica glass thin film, and the laser is passed through the photomask through the silica. A method for forming an optical waveguide, comprising: irradiating a glass thin film, and forming an irradiated portion on the clad and a non-irradiated portion on the core. 4. The method of forming an optical waveguide according to claim _{2, wherein the} laser is a CO2 laser.   The optical waveguide forming method according to claim 1, wherein the silica glass thin film has a thickness of 2 to 100 μm.   6. The method of forming an optical waveguide according to claim 1, wherein the physical vapor deposition method is any one of a magnetron high-frequency sputtering method, a high-frequency sputtering method, an electron beam evaporation method, a heating evaporation method, or a reactive sputtering method. The method for forming an optical waveguide according to claim 1, wherein the silica glass substrate is heated at a heating temperature of 400 ° C. or higher when the physical vapor deposition method is performed.

Images