METHOD OF MANUFACTURING OPTICAL MULTIPLEXER/DEMULTIPLEXER

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of manufacturing an optical multiplexer/demultiplexer which allows the multiplexer/demultiplexer to be easily manufactured without repeating anisotropic etching and is appropriate for mass production of the optical multiplexer/demultiplexers. SOLUTION: An arbitrarily shaped object 2 is formed on the surface of an object to be processed 1. The object 2 is formed into a shape processed layer 14 having prescribed shapes. Argon ion beams 11 are radiated onto the layer 14 and the object 1 from the surface side of the layer 14 to conduct anisotropic etching so as to form shapes that are analogous to the shape of the layer 14 along the depth direction of the object 1 on which the object 2 is formed and to obtain an optical multiplexer/demultiplexer 12. COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI