US 7,248,769 B2 · Optical fiber bundles and devices including them

Abstract

The present invention provides optical fiber bundles that can be configured to yield beams of radiation having tailored polarization and/or intensity properties. According to one embodiment of the invention, an optical fiber bundle includes a plurality of polarization-maintaining optical fibers, each of the polarization-maintaining optical fibers having an input end, an output end, an interior portion connecting the input end to the output end, and a polarization axis, wherein the input ends of the polarization-maintaining optical fibers are grouped in a first arrangement, and the output ends of the polarization-maintaining optical fibers are grouped in a second arrangement, and wherein the relative orientations of the polarization axes in the first arrangement is different than the relative orientation of the polarization axes in the second arrangement.

Claims17

Dependent claims

An optical fiber bundle comprising

a plurality of polarization-maintaining ultraviolet transmitting optical fibers, each of the polarization-maintaining ultraviolet transmitting optical fibers having an input end, an output end, an interior portion connecting the input end to the output end, and a polarization axis,
wherein the input ends of the polarization-maintaining ultraviolet transmitting optical fibers are grouped in a first arrangement, and
the output ends of the polarization-maintaining ultraviolet transmitting optical fibers are grouped in a second arrangement, and are arranged with respect to the input ends of the polarization-maintaining ultraviolet transmitting optical fibers so that when a plane polarized beam is input to the fiber bundle at the input ends of the polarization-maintaining ultraviolet transmitting optical fibers, it is output from the output ends the polarization-maintaining ultraviolet transmitting optical fibers as a substantially azimuthally polarized beam.

An ultraviolet beam delivery unit for providing an azimuthally-polarized beam, the ultraviolet beam delivery unit comprising

an optical fiber bundle comprising a plurality of polarization-maintaining optical fibers, each of the polarization-maintaining optical fibers having an input end, an output end, an interior portion connecting the input end to the output end, and a polarization axis
wherein the input ends of the polarization-maintaining optical fibers are grouped in a first arrangement, and the output ends of the polarization-maintaining optical fibers are grouped in a second arrangement, and
wherein the relative orientations of the polarization axes in the first arrangement is different than the relative orientation of the polarization axes in the second arrangement;
a source of a beam of plane polarized ultraviolet radiation;
wherein the source is coupled to the input ends of the polarization-maintaining ultraviolet transmitting optical fibers.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Optical fiber bundles and devices including them

Life of this patent

Optical fiber bundles and devices including them

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims17