The invention relates to a precursor material production apparatus and to a method using same for producing precursor materials for high-purity, large-volume and homogeneously doped
optical fiber preforms. The invention relates to a precursor material production apparatus and to a method using same for producing precursor materials for high-purity, large-volume and homogeneously or deliberately heterogeneously doped
optical fiber preforms, which enable homogeneous
doping in
optical fiber preforms when the constituents of the precursor material are being mixed, such that no quality problems arise in the optical fibers drawn from the preforms. The invention is characterized in that a reactant (211) in the form of a first constituent and a suspension (221) in the form of a second constituent of the precursor material (6) are mixed in the precursor material production apparatus so that the first constituent can be fed via a first inlet opening (3a) and the second constituent can be fed via at least one further inlet opening (3b) to a mixing
system (3) in a manner that allows metering, with the result that the first constituent and the second constituent are mixed in the mixing
system (3) into a mixed material that is homogeneously or deliberately heterogeneously enriched with the
dopant and that can be fed for further
processing as precursor material (6), wherein the apparatus (1) is a microfluidic
system which comprises at least two reservoirs (21) for the reactant (211) and the suspension (221), and at least
two fluid channels (2), wherein each fluid channel (2) runs out of a reservoir (21) and, via the inlet openings (3a, 3b), into the mixing system (3), where the reactant (211) and the suspension (221), each of which is in a fluid, are intimately mixed in the form of the mixed material (6), wherein the mixer (3) is a fluidic
micromixer.