In some examples, an optical fiber may include a clad portion and an exposed fiber core that extends from the clad portion. Multiple such optical fibers may be included in a fiber bundle having a condensed region of fiber cores spaced at a first center-to-center spacing and a non-condensed region of clad portions spaced at a second center-to-center spacing greater than the first center-to-center spacing. Such optical fibers may be formed with exposed fiber cores ab initio.