OPTICAL BRANCH WAVEGUIDE AND ITS MANUFACTURE, AND OPTICAL WAVEGUIDE CIRCUIT

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical branch waveguide and an optical waveguide circuit which are easy to manufacture, small in size and low in cost. SOLUTION: On a substrate 11, two 1st and 2nd linear optical waveguides 12 and 13 are formed crossing each other at a specific angle and a groove 14 which has a specific angle to the optical waveguides and is deeper than the 1st and 2nd optical waveguides 12 and 13 is formed including the intersection area of the 1st and 2nd optical waveguides 12 and 13; and an optical element 15 having a partial reflecting and partial transmitting function which transmits part of incident light guided in the 1st optical waveguide 12a to guide it to the 1st optical waveguide 12b and also reflects part of the incident light to guide it to the 2nd optical waveguide 13 is formed on one side wall of the groove while including the intersection area of the 1st and 2nd optical waveguides 12 and 13 at least in the groove 14.