Two or more optical waveguides are placed in a treatment vessel. The optical waveguides in the treatment vessel are treated with a chemical substance containing at least one of deuterium, hydrogen, and a compound thereof. The treating includes causing molecules of the chemical substance to diffuse into the optical waveguides, causing the molecules of the chemical substance that have diffused into the optical waveguides to react with structural defects that exist in a portion, through which light propagates, of the optical waveguides, and removing from the optical waveguides molecules of the chemical substance that do not react with the structural defect.