An apparatus in one example comprises a buffer layer located on a face that serves
as a primary support for an optical fiber winding along a first general direction.
The face is coupled with a body that serves as a primary support for the optical
fiber winding along a second general direction. The optical fiber winding comprises
an optical fiber wound about the body. The buffer layer serves to promote a decrease
of one or more strain gradients among a plurality of portions of the optical fiber winding.
