OPTICAL PATH CHANGING ELEMENT, MANUFACTURE THEREOF AND BLADE FOR MANUFACTURING THE OPTICAL PATH CHANGING ELEMENT

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical path changing element having high performance being effective for high integration of an optical module such as an optical transmitter-receiver and reduction of an assembling cost by forming a V groove in an optical waveguide by means of an entrance/exit plane and a tilt end face. SOLUTION: By performing cutting operation using a diamond blade 40 having a machined point of blade of about 90 deg., a V groove 12a having tilt end faces 6, 6 is formed on a planar optical waveguide. Since a dicing saw is used, machining with the positional accuracy of a sub-micron order is performed in both horizontal and height directions. The depth of machining may be deeper than the boundary surface between a core 3 and a lower clad 5 and the machining is either stopped in the lower clad 5 or cut into a substrate 1. Since the diamond blade is equally matched to an abrasive paper used for grinding optical parts, this machining process has an effect equivalent to simultaneous execution of machining of the tilt end face and surface grinding of high optical grade and the excellently smooth machined surface is obtained.