High power misalignment-tolerant fiber assembly

An optical fiber assembly comprising:

• an optical fiber including a core and a cladding, the optical fiber having an end face for receiving incident light, the core and cladding for guiding the incident light along the optical fiber in a light propagation direction;
• and,
• a mount for supporting the optical fiber, the mount including a passageway extending therethrough for receiving the optical fiber, the optical fiber disposed such that a portion of the optical fiber extends outward from an opening of the passageway to a focal plane of the incident light,
• wherein an end of the optical fiber comprises a bare core section, the bare core section having a length that is at least 75 times greater than a maximum cladding thickness of the optical fiber.

An optical fiber assembly comprising:

• an optical fiber including a core and a cladding, the optical fiber having an end face for receiving incident light, the core and cladding for guiding the incident light along the optical fiber in a light propagation direction;
• and,
• a mount for supporting the optical fiber, the mount including a passageway extending therethrough for receiving the optical fiber, the optical fiber disposed such that a portion of the optical fiber extends outward from an opening of the passageway to a focal plane of the incident light,
• wherein an end of the optical fiber comprises a tapered cladding region, a thickness of the cladding in the tapered cladding region increasing in the light propagation direction, the tapered cladding region having an average taper angle that is less than about 5°.