Optical fiber preform manufacturing method, optical fiber preform, and optical fiber

Abstract

A method includes (1) a thermal diffusion process for using an alkali metal salt raw material having an average particle size of 1 mm or less in diameter, supplying a vapor of the alkali metal salt produced by heating the alkali metal salt raw material together with a carrier gas to the inside of a silica-based glass pipe from one end side of the glass pipe, and heating the glass pipe using a heat source which relatively moves in a longitudinal direction of the glass pipe to cause an oxidation reaction of an alkali metal and thermally diffuse the alkali metal into an inner side of the glass pipe, (2) a collapsing process for collapsing the glass pipe after the thermal diffusion process to prepare a core rod; and (3) a cladding portion addition process for adding a cladding portion around the core rod prepared in the collapsing process.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.