Compound elliptical reflector for curing optical fibers

A method of curing a workpiece, comprising:

• joining a first and a second elliptic cylindrical reflector to form a contiguous compound elliptic cylindrical reflector with a co-located focus,
• removably mounting axial ends of the compound elliptic cylindrical reflector to a reflector housing,
• emitting light from a light source removably positioned at a second focus of the first elliptic cylindrical reflector,
• positioning the workpiece at the co-located focus, and
• increasing an intensity and uniformity of light irradiated on to the workpiece by reducing a major axis length of the second elliptic cylindrical reflector relative to a major axis length of the first elliptic cylindrical reflector.

A curing system, comprising:

• a cooling system thermally connected to a reflector housing, and
• a lighting subsystem including,
• the reflector housing,
• a compound elliptic cylindrical reflector removably mounted to the reflector housing, the compound elliptic cylindrical reflector comprising a first elliptic cylindrical reflector and a second elliptic cylindrical reflector contiguously joined and having a co-located focus,
• a light source removably positioned at a second focus of the first elliptic cylindrical reflector, wherein radiation emitted from the light source is focused by the compound elliptic cylindrical reflector on to the co-located focus, and
• a controller, including instructions stored in executable memory to:
• irradiate a first spectrum of UV light from the light source during a first time period, and
• irradiate a second spectrum of UV light from the light source during a second time period, wherein the first spectrum and the second spectrum do not overlap.