Growing interest in free-space optical communication, due to the high bandwidth and security provided by these links, has generated the necessity of designing high-performance satellite terminals. In order to develop these terminals, the opto-thermo-mechanical phenomena that appear in the space environment and their effect on optical communication links have to be understood in detail. A review of the opto-thermo-mechanical phenomena occurring in spaceborne terminals is presented, describing the relevance of each of them. The methods found to compute the impact on the communication performance due to opto-thermo-mechanical phenomena are collected by building the bridge between the optical and communication performance parameters. Finally, techniques available to mitigate the detrimental effects of these phenomena are classified, and the relevant research challenges are identified.

中文翻译：

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卫星自由空间光通信中的光热机械现象：调查与挑战

由于这些链路提供的高带宽和安全性，人们对自由空间光通信的兴趣日益浓厚，因此有必要设计高性能卫星终端。为了开发这些终端，必须详细了解空间环境中出现的光热机械现象及其对光通信链路的影响。对星载终端中发生的光热机械现象进行了回顾，描述了它们各自的相关性。通过在光学和通信性能参数之间建立桥梁，收集了计算光热机械现象对通信性能影响的方法。最后，对可用于减轻这些现象的有害影响的技术进行了分类，并确定了相关的研究挑战。