Patent ID: 8201421

Claim:
A method for producing an optical component, the method comprising: oxidizing or reducing a glass comprising at least one heat source material selected from the group consisting of Ni, Fe, V, Cu, Cr, and Mn which absorbs and converts a laser beam to heat, comprised in a glass matrix comprising at least one glass-forming oxide selected from the group consisting of SiO 2 , GeO 2 , B 2 O 3 , P 2 O 5 , TeO 2 , Ga 2 O 3 , V 2 O 5 , MoO 3 , and WO 3 and at least one selected from the group consisting of an alkali metal, an alkaline earth metal, a rare earth element and a transition element, to form a light-absorbing layer having an absorption coefficient at a laser emission wavelength increased over a prescribed depth from a surface; oxidizing the light-absorbing layer formed by the reducing or reducing the light-absorbing layer formed by the oxidizing, to let the light-absorbing layer partly disappear at a glass surface side region; irradiating the light-absorbing layer with a laser beam comprising a wavelength to be absorbed by the heat source material at a focal point adjusted to a prescribed depth in the light-absorbing layer, to convert an irradiated portion to a single crystal or a group of crystal grains comprising a component comprised in the glass matrix and not comprising the heat source material, to obtain a pattern.