Patent ID: 7248769

Claim:
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.