Compound Elliptical Reflector for Curing Optical Fibers

A photoreactive system for UV curing, comprising:

• a power supply;
• a cooling subsystem;
• a light-emitting subsystem comprising,
• coupling optics, including a first elliptic cylindrical reflector and a second elliptic cylindrical reflector, the first elliptic cylindrical reflector and the second elliptic cylindrical reflector having a co-located focus and arranged on opposing sides of a workpiece, and
• a UV light source located substantially at a second focus of the first elliptic cylindrical reflector;
• and
• a controller, including instructions stored in memory executable to irradiate UV light from the UV light source, wherein the irradiated UV light is reflected by at least one of the first elliptic cylindrical reflector and the second elliptic cylindrical reflector and focused on to a surface of the workpiece, in the absence of a light source located at a second focus of the second elliptic cylindrical reflector.

A method, comprising:

• positioning a workpiece along a first interior axis of a reflector, wherein the reflector comprises first curved surfaces having a first curvature and second curved surfaces having a second curvature;
• positioning a light source along a second interior axis of the reflector;
• and
• emitting light from the light source, wherein the emitted light is reflected from the first curved surfaces and from the second curved surfaces onto the workpiece.