GLASS WAVEGUIDE AND ITS MANUFACTURE

摘要

PURPOSE:To provide a glass waveguide and its manufacture which can easily add various elements to a light propagation area and are small in the loss of connection with optical fiber. CONSTITUTION:After a groove 3 is formed as the light propagation area on one surface of at least one glass substrate 2b between two glass substrates 2a and 2b, another glass material 1 which is higher in refractive index than the glass substrates 2a and 2b and lower in softening temperature is interposed between both the glass substrates 2a and 2b with the surface where the groove 3 is formed, and, the glass material 1 is heated and fused while pressed from both sides to bring the glass substrates 2a and 2b into close contact with each other and the glass material 1 is thus filled in the groove 3 to form the light propagation area. Grooves 4 and 5 which are wider on both sides of the groove 3 at intervals which are >=2 times as large as the width of the groove 3 to increase the contact pressure between the glass substrates 2a and 2b, thereby absorbing an excessive glass material other than the glass material charged in the groove 3 as the light propagation area.