Patent ID: 7682551

Claim:
A method for manufacturing a three-dimensional photonic structure comprising a plurality of inorganic members composed of an inorganic material and a resin matrix within which the plurality of inorganic members are disposed, the resin matrix being composed of a photo-cured resin material, the method comprising the steps of: preparing the plurality of inorganic members and a photocurable resin material; successively and repeatedly performing a stereolithographic step for curing stacked layers composed of the photocurable resin material along a stacking direction to form a three-dimensional component such that cavities are formed at locations to be occupied by the inorganic members in the three-dimensional component having a structure in which the plurality of cured resin layers composed of the photo-cured resin material are stacked; filling the cavities with the photocurable resin material; inserting the inorganic members into concave portions of the cavities before closing the cavities during the stereolithographic step, each of the concave portions being at least a portion of the corresponding cavity and having an opening through which each of the inorganic members can pass, each gap between the surface of each of the concave portions and the corresponding inorganic member being filled with the photocurable resin material; and thermally curing the photocurable resin material remaining in the cavities.