WAVEGUIDE TYPE OPTICAL SWITCH AND MANUFACTURE OF THE SAME

摘要

PURPOSE:To provide optical switch structure which is good in size accuracy and small in the surface roughness of an internal wall surface and enables a slit with good verticalness to be formed and its manufacturing method. CONSTITUTION:A core waveguide 3 which is sectioned almost rectangularly is formed on a substrate 1 which has a low-refractive-index layer 2 at least on its surface while having a T-shaped or cross-shaped intersection part 30, and the surface of the core waveguide 3 is covered with a clad 31 which has a 2-5mum low refractive index to form a ridge type optical waveguide; and the slit 32 is formed by extending from the top surface of the clad 31 toward the substrate 1 so as to cut the core waveguide at the intersection part 30 and liquid 6 which is nearly equal in refractive index to the core waveguide 3 is charged in the slit 32. A thermoelectric body 33 for heating the liquid 6 is provided in the vicinity of the slit 32 and the liquid 6 in the slit 32 is heated and vaporized or condensed by stopping the heating to vary the refractive index in the slit 32, thereby controlling the traveling direction of light propagated in the core waveguide 3.