Optimal design of small aperture optical terminals for free-space links

2024/07/04 by Alex M. Frost, Benjamin P. Dix-Matthews, Frost, Alex M. +7 · 1 citation
Engineering · #Advanced Photonic Communication Systems #FOS: Physical sciences #Instrumentation and Detectors (physics.ins-det) #Optical Wireless Communication Technologies #Optics (physics.optics) #Semiconductor Lasers and Optical Devices

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2407.04745

openalex publication_date 2024/07/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

We present the generalised design of low-complexity, small aperture optical terminals intended for kilometre-scale, terrestrial, free-space laser links between fixed and dynamic targets. The design features single-mode fibre coupling of the free-space beam, assisted by a fast-steering, tip/tilt mirror that enables first-order turbulence suppression and fine target tracking. The total power throughput over the free-space link and the scintillation index in fibre are optimised. The optimal tip/tilt correction bandwidth and range, aperture size, and focal length for a given link are derived using analytical atmospheric turbulence modelling and numerical simulations.

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