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.