Method for manufacturing vibration element

A method for manufacturing a vibration element that includes a base portion, a first vibration arm and a second vibration arm that extend from the base portion along a first direction and are arranged along a second direction intersecting the first direction, and bottomed grooves on both main surfaces of the first vibration arm and both main surfaces of the second vibration arm, the method comprising:

• a preparing step of preparing a crystal substrate on which a plurality of the vibration elements can be formed;
• a protective film forming step of forming a protective film on the crystal substrate except for groove regions, inter-arm regions, and gap regions, the groove regions being regions in which the grooves are formed, the inter-arm regions being regions between a first region in which the first vibration arm is formed and a second region in which the second vibration arm is formed, and the gap regions being regions in which gaps between adjacent vibration elements of the plurality of vibration elements are formed;
• and
• a dry etching step of dry etching the crystal substrate through the protective film, the dry etching step simultaneously forming the grooves and outer shapes of the vibration elements including the first vibration arm and the second vibration arm, wherein
• the grooves provided in at least one of the first vibration arm and the second vibration arm include a first groove and a second groove arranged along the second direction, and
• a distance between adjacent vibration elements among the plurality of vibration elements is larger than a width between the first vibration arm and the second vibration arm of the vibration element.