MATERIAL FOR OPTICAL WAVEGUIDE, OPTICAL WAVEGUIDE AND ITS MANUFACTURE

摘要

PURPOSE: To provide a material for optical waveguide having high polymerizability and excellent solvent resistance, and to provide an optical waveguide utilizing it and a method for manufacturing it. CONSTITUTION: Materials for optical waveguide constituting organic material layers 11a, 12a are activated and converted into a cladding part 11 and a core part 12 respectively when the materials are irradiated with energy beam. The materials for an optical waveguide contain an oxetane compound, an oxirane compound and a cation polymerization initiator. Because the oxetane compound has an oxetane ring, it has an excellent repetitive reactivity in a chain reaction. Thereby the materials exhibit high polymerizability in a chain reaction so as to produce polymers with large mechanical strength and excellent solvent resistance. Refractive indices of the core part 12 and the cladding parts 11, 13 are controlled because an oxetane compound and an oxirane compound are excellently compatible with each other and refractive indices of respective compounds are reflected in the refractive index of a hardened mixture.