Optical functional device and fabrication process for the same

摘要

A photonic crystal has a relatively simple configuration and exhibits a sufficiently large refractive index change. An optical functional device uses the photonic crystal, and a process fabricates such an optical functional device. The photonic crystal includes at least one polymer as a material and changes in refractive index by changing the temperature of the polymer to thereby control the band structure of the photonic crystal. For example, a polymer is charged into holes arranged in a two-dimensional photonic crystal and is heated using a thin-film heater or is cooled using a Peltier device. The temperature is controlled by a temperature controller.